Today, US Ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns said that China's support for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine by providing components for missiles and other weapons is a "serious mistake", the Associated Press reports, quoted by BTA.
In a speech in China's financial hub Shanghai, Burns also said that the Russian invasion, now in its third year, has become an "existential crisis" for Europe. He added that despite assurances that it remains neutral, China has effectively sided with Russia, supplying it with a wide range of technical components.
"We believe it is a serious mistake to allow Chinese companies, thousands of them, to send so many components, technical components, microprocessors and nitrocellulose to Russia, which allows Russia to strengthen and enhance the capacity of its defense industry for this brutal war," Burns said.
"China "is not neutral, but has effectively sided with Russia in this war," the ambassador pointed out, adding that this decision directly contradicts Beijing's repeated statements that it supports "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of all countries.
China claims that it does not provide direct military assistance to Russia, but that it is developing active trade relations with Moscow, despite the war, along with the exchange of visits between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Beijing is also a major buyer of Russian oil and natural gas, which provides Russia with the revenue it needs to neutralize the impact of Western sanctions. Shortly before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia and China signed an agreement declaring the beginning of a new era of unlimited friendship between the two countries.
So far, Chinese authorities have not responded to Burns' comments, made during a seminar on Sino-American relations and dedicated to the life of the distinguished American diplomat Henry Kissinger, who died last year.