WASHINGTON - United States President Joe Biden will warn Chinese President Xi Jinping against supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, said the Biden administration ahead of Friday’s call between the two leaders.
The call will happen in the evening Beijing time, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, which said that “China-US relations and issues of common concern” would be discussed.
Mr Biden “will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia’s aggression, and we will not hesitate to impose costs,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Thursday (March 17).
The virtual meeting directly follows up from Monday’s meeting between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday.
Mr Sullivan had conveyed the same concerns about Chinese support for Russia at Monday’s meeting, a seven-hour long session which took place in Rome.
On Thursday, Mr Blinken said the US believes China “has a responsibility to use its influence on President Putin, and to defend the international rules and principles that it professes to support”.
“Instead, it appears that China is moving in the opposite direction by refusing to condemn this aggression, while seeking to portray itself as a neutral arbiter,” said Mr Blinken.
“We’re concerned that they’re considering directly assisting Russia with military equipment used in Ukraine,” he added, in the first official confirmation of media reports that the US had told allies China was willing to support Russia with military supplies.
The claims were denied by Chinese ambassador to the US Qin Gang, in a commentary published by the Washington Post on Tuesday.
“Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation,” he wrote.
“Conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it.”
Ms Psaki said that Friday’s meeting will be “an opportunity for President Biden to assess where President Xi stands” on the conflict in Ukraine.
“The fact that China has not denounced what Russia is doing in and of itself speaks volumes…around the world,” she said during a press briefing.
“We have made clear our deep concerns about China's alignment with Russia and the potential implications and consequences of that,” she added. “The President will also share his assessment of that during the call.”
The two leaders last spoke directly in a video call in November last year.
The White House said in a statement that Friday’s call was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between the US and China.
“The two leaders will discuss managing the competition between our two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and other issues of mutual concern,” it said.
