U.S. and China Defense Officials Hold a Rare Call to Discuss Ukraine, Security Issues
U.S. and China Defense Officials Hold a Rare Call to Discuss Ukraine, Security Issues
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a rare call on Wednesday with his counterpart in China, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, to discuss the situation in Ukraine and other security issues, according to a U.S. statement.
A Chinese statement confirmed the Ukraine discussion, saying Wei urged the U.S. to refrain from using Ukraine to “smear” China. It also said Wei urged the U.S. to stop military provocations at sea.
The conversation comes as the U.S. continues to pressure China not to align with Russia as the Ukraine war drags on. President Xi Jinping’s government has refrained from joining in U.S. and European sanctions on Russia, while calling for respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
China has also declared that Russia’s moves on Ukraine are “not comparable at all” to Beijing’s determination to reunify Taiwan with mainland China.
Austin requested the telephone conversation with Wei after months of failed efforts to speak with Xu Qiliang, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the Communist Party’s military structure, the Associated Press reported.
Despite the U.S. pressure, China’s tacit backing for Moscow has continued.
Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng called for deepening ties in a range of fields during a meeting on Monday in Beijing with Russian envoy Andrey Ivanovich Denisov, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement. He said that a nearly 30% jump in trade between the nations during the first three months of 2022 demonstrates “the great resilience and internal dynamism of bilateral cooperation.”
While bilateral trade did grow in the first quarter, much of that was before the invasion of Ukraine, with Chinese exports to Russia slumping in March to the lowest level since mid-2020, according to data released last week.
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