According to the US ambassador to the UN, China would cross a “red line” if it opted to give Russia fatal military support for its invasion of Ukraine.
“We applaud the Chinese government’s declaration that they seek peace because in circumstances like this, it’s what we always aim for. During “State of the Union,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “We also have to be clear that if there are any ideas and efforts by the Chinese and others to provide lethal support to the Russians in their cruel war against Ukraine, that is unacceptable.
She declared, “That would be a red line.”
In Munich, the US cautions allies that China may strengthen its support for Russia.
As previously reported by CNN, the US has started noticing “disturbing” trends in China’s military assistance to Russia, and there are indications that Beijing may be attempting to “creep up to the line” of giving Russia lethal military assistance covertly, according to US officials familiar with the intelligence.
The officials declined to go into detail about the intelligence that the US has obtained that suggests a recent change in China’s posture, but they claimed that US officials were sufficiently concerned about the information that they shared it with allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference over the past few days.
On Saturday outside of the conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the matter with his Chinese colleague, Wang Yi, according to sources.
A senior State Department official told reporters that the secretary was “very direct in warning about the ramifications and repercussions of China giving material support to Russia or supporting Russia with systematic sanctions evasion.”
On Sunday, Thomas-Greenfield reaffirmed that the US is ready to “compete” with China.
The president stated that we view China as the enemy that it is. We are ready to compete with the Chinese and, if necessary, to engage them in conflict. That’s what we’re doing right now. And we’ll keep doing it to make sure that our national interests are always put first,” she said.
