Even during Blinken’s visit, China provides a port for a ship carrying weapons from the DPRK to Russia. It violates sanctions

The report concerns the vessel Angara, which since August last year delivered thousands of containers that apparently contained North Korean munitions to Russian ports, the RUSI think tank noted, adding that the ship has been moored at a Chinese shipyard in the eastern province of Zhejiang since February.

Washington has repeatedly criticized Beijing for supplying Moscow with, among other things, sensitive technologies that have military uses.

“China cannot claim to be neutral on this when in fact it has chosen a side,” US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told Politico before Blinken’s departure. “If it did not provide some of these components or this material support, Russia would be in a very different situation and would have difficulty carrying out some of the acts of aggression,” she added.

Blinken will leave for a three-day visit to China

America

Blinken himself also criticized the behavior of Beijing for these reasons before the trip. “If China, on the one hand, wants to have good relations with Europe and other countries, it cannot, on the other hand, nurture what is the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War,” said the head of US diplomacy.

China’s response did not take long. “It is extremely hypocritical and irresponsible for the United States to provide large-scale aid to Ukraine while unreasonably attacking normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.

Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang I spoke in a less confrontational tone after the first day of talks, but the tension between the two sides was clear. “Should China and the United States be moving in the right direction to move steadily forward, or should they return to a downward spiral? This is the main issue facing our two countries and tests our sincerity and ability,” the Chinese foreign minister said, according to CNN.

Tension also due to Taiwan or TikTok

“I hope we can make some progress on the issues on which our presidents have agreed that we should work together, but we should also clarify our differences, our intentions and tell each other very clearly where we stand,” the US minister said in turn.

In Beijing, Blinken discusses not only the war in Ukraine, but also other contentious issues between the US and China. US President Joe Biden recently approved four bills approved by Congress, which include foreign military aid in the total amount of 95 billion dollars (2.25 trillion crowns) for Ukraine, Israel, but also US partners in Southeast Asia, especially Taiwan. A fourth bill could lead to a ban on TikTok in the U.S., which U.S. officials fear is linked to Chinese espionage.