U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Beijing over its support of Russia after emerging from more than five hours of talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
During a meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken on Saturday said he told Wang that China wasn’t neutral on the Ukraine war because there’s no such thing as being neutral when there is a clear aggressor.
He cited Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin as evidence of Beijing’s ongoing support of Moscow.
The exchanges were exceptionally candid and neither side held back, but they were professional in tone despite the candor, according to a senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing closed-door talks.
Blinken told Wang that the U.S. views the China relationship as largely competitive, and described what that competition means — and doesn’t mean — from the American perspective, the official said. Wang shared his thoughts on Blinken’s speech in late May laying out the Biden administration’s China policy, according to the U.S. account.
China said the talks were constructive and may help avoid “miscalculation,” while adding that U.S.-Chinese ties aren’t “out of the difficulties” caused by former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The statement by the Chinese embassy in Washington also warned the U.S. against supporting Taiwanese independence, advised the U.S. not to form “exclusive groupings” against China and said Washington shouldn’t meddle in China’s internal affairs, including on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Blinken said that G-20 countries urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who joined the meeting, to lift a blockade on grain from Ukraine to ease food shortages around the world.
Blinken said he also conveyed to Wang that now was the time for China to call on Russia to end its blockade of Ukrainian ports and allow ships to export grain.
“Now what you hear from Beijing is that it claims to be neutral,” Blinken said. “I would start with the proposition that it’s pretty hard to be neutral when it comes to this aggression. There’s a clear aggressor. There’s a clear victim.”
China’s support for Russia was evident at the U.N. and in Chinese state media’s amplification of Russian propaganda, Blinken said. He cited Xi’s decision to announce a “no limits” partnership with Putin “while Russia was massing its forces.”
Blinken also said he and Wang “addressed areas of disagreement and ways to manage and reduce risks” while bringing up contentious issues like tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Hong Kong’s democracy and allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang.
“The United States wants our channels of communication with Beijing to continue to remain open,” Blinken said.
He pushed back against the idea that Wang’s two-week trip through the region suggested that China was more committed to engagement with Southeast Asia.
“What we’re about is not asking countries to choose, but giving them a choice when it comes to things like investment in infrastructure,” he said, adding that America wanted to engage in a “race to the top,” not the bottom.
