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‘Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support.’
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “powering” Russia’s war against Ukraine and Moscow would “struggle” to sustain its attack without the Chinese support, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on April 26 before leaving China, ending his three-day trip.
Mr. Blinken’s trip is part of the Biden administration’s continued efforts to engage with the CCP, with the goal of leveraging face-to-face communication to prevent unintended conflict. Coincidently, the timing of the trip comes as Congress recently renewed attention to China’s ongoing campaigns to infiltrate different aspects of American society via political warfare.
Talks with the Chinese sides were “candid” and “constructive,” Mr. Blinken said at a press conference as he wrapped up his visit on Friday.
As one of the achievements of his three days of talks in Beijing, the United States and China will host the first dialogues on artificial intelligence “in the coming weeks,” Mr. Blinken said. “We’ll share our respective views on the risks and safety concerns around advanced AI and how best to manage them.”
China’s Aid to Russia
China’s aid to Russia’s defense industry is at the top of Mr. Blinken’s agenda. Mr. Bliken said during the meetings with Chinese officials, he reiterated his “serious concern about the PRC providing components that are powering Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine,” using the acronym of China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
“Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” he said.
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U.S. officials have renewed concerns about China’s support for Russia’s war efforts, saying Beijing is sending machine tools, chips, and other materials that have both civilian and military uses to help rebuild Moscow’s defense sector. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the United States is ready to sanction Chinese companies and financial institutions if they’re facilitating the flow of military goods to Russia, though she said nothing is imminent.
Following the meeting with Xi on Friday, Mr. Bliken raised the issue again.
“China is the top supplier of machine tools, microelectronics, nitrocellulose, which is critical to making munitions and rocket propellants, and other dual-use items that Moscow is using to ramp up its defense industrial base,” he told reporters.
“Fueling Russia’s defense industrial base not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security.”
Overcapacity
Mr. Bliken also criticized China’s unfair trade practices and industrial overcapacity, which has threatened businesses and workers in the United States and elsewhere.
“China alone is producing more than 100 percent of global demand” for products like solar panels, electric vehicles, and the batteries that power them, “flooding markets, undermining competition, [and] putting at risk livelihoods and businesses around the world,” Mr. Blinken said, describing the trend as “a movie we have seen before.”
“We know how it ends: with American businesses shuttered and American jobs lost. President Biden will not let this happen on his watch,” he said. “We’ll do what’s necessary to ensure that American workers can compete on a level playing field.”
During a similar visit to China earlier this month, Ms. Yellen also confronted senior Chinese officials about the country’s industrial overcapacity, an issue that she said has become a top concern for Washington, Brussels, and some emerging markets like New Delhi. The treasury secretary said on Thursday that to address the problem, she wouldn’t “take anything off the table.”
Mr. Blinken emphasized that the U.S. actions are not aimed at “holding back China’s development.”
“We want China’s economy to grow, but the way China grows matters.”
Bilateral Talks
According to a Chinese readout of the Xi-Blinken talk, Xi told the visiting U.S. diplomat that the two nations should be “partners, not rivals,” a remark that stands in contrast to the CCP’s aggressive behaviors around the world. Critics have called out China’s behaviors as aiming to overturn the current U.S.-led international rules-based order.
Mr. Blinken reportedly told Xi that the U.S. would not seek a “new Cold War,” according to the Chinese readout. At the time of writing, the State Department has not released a readout or statement on the Xi-Blinken meeting.
Mr. Wang, speaking to Mr. Blinken, warned that the United States not to “interfere in China’s internal affairs” and not to step on “China’s red lines on China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests,” according to the State Department.
For years, the CCP has deflected international criticism of its policies toward Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet, by arguing that they are “internal affairs.” The Chinese regime has also legitimized its objective of seizing Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy with a democratically-elected government, as part of its “core interests.”
Mr. Blinken told his Chinese counterpart that “active diplomacy” was needed for both nations. “We’re as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences, at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations,” he added.
Political Prisoners
During Friday’s press conference, Mr. Blinken said China’s human rights issues came up during the talks.
“I raised the cases of American citizens who are wrongfully detained and those who are subject to exit bans,” he said. “President Biden and I will not rest until they’re back with their families where they belong.”
“I also raise concerns about the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy and democratic institutions, as well as transnational repression, ongoing human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet, and a number of individual human rights cases,” Mr. Blinken added.
“Human rights must not be delinked from trade and the United States must not accept Beijing’s egregious and ongoing human rights violations in exchange for promises that will inevitably be broken by Beijing,” the statement reads.
The organizations said Mr. Blinken should use his China trip to “call for the release of all political prisoners” in China, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
Mr. Blinken should also “issue targeted sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials for human rights violations,” according to the statement.
The report also discussed covert Chinese operations to silence and punish critics in the United States and elsewhere, deploying tactics including stalking and harassment.
In his previous trip to China in 2023, Mr. Blinken said he brought up China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. Since then, however, it does not appear that the Chinese regime has made any policy change to address the U.S. concerns.
‘Destruction of Our Country’
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held a hearing focusing on the CCP’s political warfare against the United States on April 17.
“What is the CCP? It is the ruling authoritarian regime of China. While it is enslaving its own people in forced labor camps in China, it is also brazenly engaging in dozens of forms of warfare against America. Each warfare tactic seeks the destruction of our country,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the committee’s chairman, at the hearing.
The CCP is using its “united front” networks to run the different influence campaigns, Mr. Comer added.
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Spalding was one of the witnesses at the hearing. He warned about how Chinese companies are proxies serving the CCP.
“Chinese companies working on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party influence American businesses and financial institutions with seductive promises,” Mr. Spalding said. “In turn, these American organizations influence our political process to ensure we maintain an economic connection to the party’s influence, simultaneously eliminating manufacturing jobs for America’s working class.”
“State, local, and federal politicians are influenced by Chinese investment and the often unfulfilled promise of jobs in their districts,” Mr. Spalding added.
