U.S. officials have warned since February that the Chinese Communist Party was contemplating such a move, which prompted a strong response from the Biden administration.“What we are concerned about is private companies in China that may be providing assistance, in some cases dual use, in some cases clearly directed at enhancing Russia’s military capacity in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday at a press conference in Beijing.
“With regard to assurances on providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, this is not — this is not new today,” the secretary said. “This is something that China has said in recent weeks and has repeatedly said — not only to us, but to many other countries that have raised this concern — that they are not and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine. And that’s an important commitment, an important policy.
Beijing refused to establish a crisis communications challenge with U.S. military officials, Blinken added, despite continued U.S. warnings that their silence raises the possibility of “an unintentional conflict” between the powers.