Blinken to press China over its support for Russian defense base

21/4/2024 6:11

        The U.S. is prepared to act against Chinese companies supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, a senior U.S. official told reporters, highlighting it as an issue Secretary of State Antony Blinken will raise on his trip to China next week.
        
        U.S. officials have warned in increasingly stark terms about what they say is China's assistance in retooling and resupplying Russia's defense industrial base after early setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine, saying that continued support is a top risk to stable relations between Washington and Beijing.
        
        Briefing reporters ahead of Blinken's planned visit to Shanghai and Beijing from April 24-26, the senior State Department official said U.S.-China relations were "in a different place" than a year ago, when ties had sunk to a historic low point after the U.S. downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.
        
        But calmer relations did not mean the U.S. would sacrifice its capacity to strengthen alliances and defend its interests, the official said.