During talks with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on Monday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned that Beijing will face “consequences” if it provides Russia with military and other assistance over its invasion of Ukraine.
The meeting, which took place in Rome, was “intense” and lasted for seven hours, a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said, adding Sullivan also raised such issues as North Korea’s provocative missile tests and Beijing’s pressure on Taiwan.
No major agreements were announced following the talks. The official said the meeting was “not about negotiating any specific issues or outcomes” but about “a candid direct exchange of views.”
Concern has been growing inside the U.S. government about China’s alignment with Russia, as the war in Ukraine has entered its third week and Moscow is facing severe economic sanctions imposed by the West that have raised the possibility of a Russian debt default.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told a separate press conference that the U.S. delegation “raised directly and very clearly” its concerns about China’s support for Russia in the wake of the invasion.
The U.S. delegation also noted “the implications that any such support would have” for China’s relationship not only with the United States but Washington’s allies and partners in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific, Price said.
Sullivan underscored concerns about China’s “provocative” actions toward Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing views as its own. He also noted “recent escalatory actions” by Pyongyang that has been advancing its weapons programs, according to the senior U.S. official, apparently referring to recent intercontinental ballistic missile system tests.
Earlier in February, China and Russia declared that their friendship has “no limits” in a joint statement issued after a meeting between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the statement, China expressed support for Russia’s opposition to the further enlargement of NATO, while Moscow affirmed Taiwan is an “inalienable part” of the Asian country.
When the U.N. General Assembly adopted a nonbinding resolution censuring Russia earlier in March, China was among the 35 countries that abstained from voting.
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