Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed Beijing’s indirect support for Russia’s war in Ukraine during his first in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart.
Austin spoke with Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun on Friday on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The two leaders discussed a number of problems including Chinese and North Korean contributions, direct and indirect, to Russia’s war efforts.
“He also discussed Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine and the PRC’s role in supporting Russia’s defense industrial base,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a readout of their meeting. “The Secretary also expressed concerns about recent provocations from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including its direct contributions to Russia’s assault on Ukraine.”
Western leaders have aggressively tried to dissuade Beijing from aiding Russia militarily, especially around the one-year mark of the war.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintains that the United States hasn’t seen evidence of China providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, though it has provided what he described on Friday as “critical inputs that have allowed Russia to accelerate its own production.”
“I heard ally after ally today raise their deep concern about this,” he added during a press conference in Prague. Blinken said last week that the U.S. has sanctioned more than 100 Chinese entities that have engaged in providing “dual-use” products to Russia.
The U.S. and NATO have sought to dissuade possible Russian allies from providing battlefield support for them, though to varying degrees of success. They have announced sanctions against various people and entities they believe are involved in the network that allows for these weapons transfers to take place.
On Thursday, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency came out with a new report confirming Russia’s use of North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine after previously concluding its use of Iranian one-way attack drones.
Austin, in his conversation with Dong, also emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between both militaries. The Chinese military had ceased communications with the U.S. following then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) trip to Taiwan in August 2022, though the Chinese have since begun reopening communication.
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Taiwan is an island off China’s coast governed independently even though the Chinese Communist Party considers it a territory to unify eventually. The Chinese military carried out significant drills around Taiwan following the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
“The Secretary expressed concern about recent provocative PLA activity around the Taiwan Strait, and he reiterated that the PRC should not use Taiwan’s political transition, part of a normal, routine democratic process, as a pretext for coercive measures,” Ryder added.
