US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Beijing for high-level meetings aimed at putting pressure on the Chinese leadership to end support for Russia. He said that the US and China should manage their differences in a “responsible way”.
However, at the same time, messages coming from Washington indicate the US’s intention to escalate the tension with Beijing.
In particular, the US ambassador to NATO, Julian Smith, in an interview with Politico, argued for the first time publicly and in such a categorical way that China is helping Russia to achieve its war goals in Ukraine. As claimed by Beijing, it supplies Moscow with technological equipment for the construction of drones and also with explosive materials.
“China cannot claim to be completely neutral in this case and is actually choosing a side,” he said, adding: “China wants to ‘sell’ its neutrality in this war, but we are not buying it.”
It is noted that China, despite its declared close cooperation “without limits” with Russia, officially maintains a neutral position in the Ukraine war, as its official involvement would automatically mean a conflict with the West, which would put it in the crosshairs sanctions.
Smith claimed that the U.S. is “finding more and more support from China to Russia by sending dual-use goods, that is, materials that could also be used in the military industry. “If they didn’t provide some of those elements or that material support, Russia would be in a very different situation and would have trouble continuing some of these aggressive actions,” he said.
Putin’s “ghost” ship in a Chinese port
At the same time, Reuters published satellite photos from the British think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), from which it is alleged that China is providing berthing in its port to a Russian cargo ship, which has been targeted by the US as ship to transport weapons from North Korea to Russia.
The Russian ship Angara, which since August 2023 has transported thousands of containers that Western agencies believe contained critical munitions from North Korea to Russian ports, is said to have docked at the Chinese shipyard in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
The State Department’s second-in-command, Kurt Campbell, said recently that Washington will not sit idly by if Beijing steps up its support for Moscow. A US State Department spokesman spoke of “credible reports” that the Angara is currently docked in a Chinese port and the matter has already been raised with Chinese authorities.
“We call on all member states to fulfill their obligations under UNSC Resolution 2397,” the official said, referring to a UN resolution restricting North Korea’s trade and requiring UN states not to accept harbors vessels involved in illegal activities. It is noted that the US and dozens of other countries, Washington’s allies, have declared that North Korea’s arms transfers to Russia “flagrantly” violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
“Threat to US security interests”
China’s embassy in Washington claimed it knew nothing about Angara, but stressed that Beijing “always opposes unilateral sanctions that are not based on international law or the mandate of the Security Council.” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also declared “ignorance” about Angara.
Joseph Byrne, a RUSI researcher, said China’s government should know that the ship targeted by the US docked at its shipyard. “If he lets it sail out of port without an inspection and after it has been repaired, then that will show that China probably has no intention of taking action on these Russian ships,” he stressed. It is noted that the Angara belongs to Putin’s so-called “ghost” fleet. These are ships with “shadow” ownership, which secretly sail to allied ports, carrying cargoes that have been placed under a prohibition regime due to sanctions.
Both Russia and North Korea have repeatedly rejected criticism of the alleged arms deliveries. However, Moscow has made it clear that it develops ties with any countries it wishes and that its cooperation with Pyongyang does not contradict international agreements.
For his part, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, speaking on Monday at an event in Washington, underlined that China and North Korea’s ever-growing relationship with Russia is “antithetical” to US security interests in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
