China helps Russia in war against Ukraine. And the United States, if Beijing does not change course, is ready to act. This is the message that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, delivers on his visit to China. “Russia would have trouble sustaining its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” Blinken said at a press conference after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and diplomatic chief Wang Yi.
China could have “better relations” with the United States or the European Union if Beijing or “some of its companies” stop supplying “critical components” thanks to which Russia can produce more munitions, he reiterated in an interview with BBC at the end of his visit to China, explaining that among these components there are “machine tools, microelectronics and optics”, essentially technology that can have civil and military use.
“This is helping Russia perpetuate its aggression against Ukrainebut is also creating a growing threat to Europe due to Russian aggression”, accuses the head of Washington’s diplomacy, according to whom, by doing so, Beijing is “contributing to fueling the greatest threat to (Europe’s) security since the end of the Cold War”. “We have already taken actions against the Chinese entities that are involved in this – recalls Blinken – And what I say clearly today is that if China does not act, we will”.
Blinken also focuses on relations between China and Tehran. The Secretary of State urges Beijing to exploit his influence “to dissuade Iran and its proxies from widening the conflict in the Middle East”, while in the international mosaic the Moscow-Tehran axis risks strengthening.
In fact, Russia is ready to expand military and technical cooperation with Iran, as assured by Moscow’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, in the meeting he had with his Tehran counterpart, Gharaei Ashtiani, in Astana, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which brings together Russia, India, China, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Tass quotes the Iranian minister, according to whom relations between Moscow and Tehran “are deepening and expanding, reaching a new level”.
From Ashtani, therefore, thanks to Shoigu for the support received after the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus last April 1st. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your fair and honest attitude towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, for your support at the time of the attack on our consulate in Damascus and for your balanced response to our proportionate retaliation,” He says.