According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, China is considering sending Russia arms and ammunition for the war in Ukraine.
Blinken told CBS News that Chinese firms were already giving Russia "non-lethal support" and that new data showed Beijing might do the same for Moscow. He warned that this escalation would have "serious consequences" for China.
US: China Considers Giving Russia 'Lethal' Military Aid
China has refuted claims that Russia has asked for military equipment. Chinese President Xi Jinping, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has not immediately denounced Russia's invasion but has called for peace and attempted to maintain neutrality.
China's foreign ministry declared that it would not submit to American "coercion" or "finger-pointing" on its relations with Russia. After meeting Wang Yi, China's senior diplomat, on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, Blinken spoke with CBS.
He said he was "deeply concerned" about the "possibility that China may send fatal material support to Russia" during the conference. He didn't go into detail regarding the specific intelligence the US had about China's prospective plans.
When questioned about what the US thought China might contribute to Russia, he responded that it would mostly be weapons and ammunition, as per BBC.
The Wagner Group, a mercenary organization that provides Russia with hundreds of men, is accused of receiving satellite footage of Ukraine from a Chinese corporation for which the US has imposed sanctions.
Since the beginning of the war, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has supported Putin's military intervention in Ukraine, arguing that the measures were justifiable since the expansion of NATO presented a "serious threat" to regional security.
Blinken also reacted to Vice President Kamala Harris's speech in Munich that the United States has formally concluded that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine. President Joe Biden has referred to Russia's acts as genocide. Blinken said, "Yes," when asked if the State Department was working on a legal finding of genocide.
Blinken's Warning May Let China Pull Back
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Jack Keane, a retired four-star general in the United States Army, stated that Secretary of State Antony Blinken's warning that China may offer deadly help to Russia could prompt Beijing to shelve these preparations.
Blinken stated in a Sunday interview that China is "seriously contemplating" providing Russia ammunition and weaponry as the Ukrainian conflict nears its first anniversary.
According to The Hill, Keane referred to China and Russia as "strategic partners" and stated, "it's not surprising that Beijing wants Russia to prosper."
Tensions between the United States and China are at an all-time high after the Biden administration shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon last month.
The Biden administration has condemned China's characterization of the US response to the spy balloon as a "Cold War mentality" of hysteria. Per Daily Mail, Blinken stated that he was uncertain whether China planned to deploy the spy balloon, which Beijing claimed was a weather balloon, over the United States.
Blinken stated that during his discussions in Munich, he "made it quite plain to Wang that China's breach of American sovereignty and international law by flying a surveillance balloon over the United States was unacceptable and must never occur again."
Related Article: Why South Africa Joins Russia, China Naval Drills?
@YouTube
