US increasingly concerned China will arm Russia against Ukraine

Washington considers making intelligence on Beijing public, report says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, on July 9, 2022. AP

The US has warned China about providing Russia with weapons and other lethal aid for the invasion of Ukraine, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday.

“We have not yet seen the PRC [People's Republic of China] provide Russia with lethal aid, but we don’t believe they’ve taken it off the table either — we are concerned,” Mr Price said in a briefing.

“We’re monitoring very vigilantly for potential violations.”

The Wall Street Journal published a report saying that the US government is considering releasing intelligence that spells out Beijing's potential arms transfer to Moscow.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confronted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with concerns that China was considering whether to assist Russia.

The two met on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich at the weekend.

"I warned China against providing material support to Russia.," Mr Blinken said in a tweet.

The growing US concern with China aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has deepened the mistrust between Washington and Beijing after President Joe Biden ordered the US Air Force to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon this month.

"We do not accept the United States' finger-pointing on China-Russia relations, let alone coercion and pressure," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a briefing on Monday.

"China's direction on the Ukraine issue can be summed up in one phrase, which is urging peace and promoting dialogue.

"It is the United States and not China that is endlessly shipping weapons to the battlefield."

The US has been clear with Beijing that there will be real consequences in relations if China tried to tilt the battlefield to Russia’s advantage, Mr Price said on Wednesday.

“The reputational cost that the PRC is enduring is already very real because the rest of the world sees the PRC, despite its veneer of neutrality, its self professed neutrality, provide important forms of support to Russia already,” he said.

“We are watching very closely to determine if the PRC does actually decide to take that step to provide lethal aid.”

Agencies contributed to this report