China is trying to “play both sides,” says Washington
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met Saturday at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference and held a “candid” discussion, US officials said.
The meeting, which was only confirmed by the US State Department after it was held, lasted about an hour and gave Antony Blinken an opportunity to warn Beijing about the war in Ukraine in particular.
China is trying to “walk both ways” by saying it wants to contribute to peace and stability while taking “worrying” steps to support the invasion of Ukraine, a senior foreign ministry official told a news conference
“The foreign minister did not hesitate to warn about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or helping Russia to systematically circumvent sanctions. »
In an interview with NBC, Antony Blinken said Washington has information that Beijing could provide deadly wartime aid to Russia.
At a debate in Munich, Wang Yi had previously reiterated his call for dialogue and urged European countries to “calmly” consider ending the war. He also said that there are “certain forces that do not appear to want the negotiations to succeed or a quick end to the war,” without specifying who he was referring to.
The interview between Antony Blinken and Wang Yi came hours after the latter accused the United States of violating international rules by adopting “hysterical” behavior, particularly regarding the destruction of a Chinese balloon in the northern skies.