Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images
By: EFE Updated 17 Sea 2022, 18: 49 pm EDT
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will warn his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, this Friday that will not hesitate to “impose” sanctions on China if that country helps Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
This was stated this Thursday by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, after the White House announced that Biden and Xi will hold a telephone conversation this Friday, the first between them since November, long before the start of the war in Ukraine.
“ President Biden will make it clear that China will bear responsibility for any action it takes to support Russia’s aggression, and we will not hesitate to impose sanctions,” Blinken said. at a press conference at the State Department.
China has “a particular responsibility” in the sense that it should “use its influence ence with the president (Russian, Vladimir) Putin” and “defend the international rules and principles that (Beijing) claims to support”, said the head of US diplomacy.
Biden hopes the call will allow him to “assess where President Xi stands” on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, because the president is “very concerned” that it could help Russia, explained the White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, during her daily press conference.
“The absence of a clear discourse and of a denunciation by China of what Russia is doing is something that goes against everything that China supports, including the basic principles of the UN Charter and “of respect for the sovereignty of nations”, affirmed Psaki.
The call between both leaders will serve to give “continuity” to the dialogue initiated this Monday during the meeting in Rome between the a Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the director of the Office of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Commission, Yang Jiechi, explained the spokeswoman.
Psaki did not want to clarify what could be the consequences that the United States will impose on China if that country supports Russia’s invasion with military or other assistance. type, and did not specify whether these costs could take the form of economic sanctions.
Until now, China has avoided using the word invasion to refer to the war in Ukraine and has expressed its opposition to the sanctions imposed by the US and its allies on Russia, under the premise that “there is no bring peace and security” but rather “serious economic difficulties” to “the inhabitants of the affected countries”.
Although Beijing maintains a strategic alliance with Moscow , has denied that it is considering providing military support and economic assistance to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and He has denied that Russia has even asked him to do so, as several US media assured this month.
The call between Biden and Xi will be the first official contact between the two since their virtual meeting in the past 16 in November, according to Psaki, and they will also talk about other issues, for example how to manage international competition between China and the United States .
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