And while they saw no signs of Beijing doing so yet, they reiterated the US message over the weekend that China should not cross that red line.
CIA Director William Burns said in a rare interview with CBS on Sunday, February 26, 2023, “We are confident that the Chinese leadership is considering providing lethal equipment” to Russia.
But he added, “We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don’t see any evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment.”
US officials launched a massive diplomatic campaign last week to warn China against providing lethal aid of this kind, something experts say could fundamentally affect the war in Ukraine as it enters its second year.
Beijing has so far strongly denied these accusations.
Media reports, including the Wall Street Journal and NBC, quoted unnamed US officials as saying that China is considering providing Russia with marches and certain types of ammunition.
And the German magazine “Der Spiegel” reported that Beijing and Moscow are negotiating possible purchases of 100 drones capable of launching strikes from a Chinese company for use in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed US concerns directly to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during a tense meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, Wang met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, which confirms the strength of the relations between the two countries.
US officials report that Chinese companies are already providing non-lethal equipment to Russia.
On Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan appeared on several morning programs to stress Washington’s warnings.
He stated that the United States would remain “vigilant” about Chinese military equipment to Russia and that Beijing’s sending of lethal weapons would have consequences.
“We will continue to send a strong message that we believe sending military aid to Russia at this time … would be a bad mistake and that China should not want to be a party,” he said on CNN.
He pointed out that the war in Ukraine puts Beijing in front of “real complications”, but stressed that “China will pay a real price” for any decision to contribute to the arming of Russia.
“Taiwan tomorrow”
Washington has not yet detailed the price it is talking about, but it has a wide range of sanctions ready that could seriously affect the economy of China, which is among the largest US trading partners.
US President Joe Biden told ABC on Friday that he warned his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, last summer that the move towards arming Russia would have severe economic repercussions, as is the case for Russia.
“It’s not a threat, it’s just a statement,” he said.
During a virtual summit held on Friday, the leaders of the Group of Seven countries threatened to impose “heavy prices” on any country that helps Russia circumvent the sanctions.
The war left Beijing in an embarrassing situation, as its economic and diplomatic relations with Moscow, which have strengthened in the past year, put it in confrontation with the United States and the broad international coalition supporting Ukraine.
China avoided condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and on Friday submitted a 12-point proposal calling for dialogue between the two parties to the conflict, respect for territorial integrity and prohibition of any use of nuclear weapons.
But from Washington’s perspective, Beijing is pursuing “two tracks” that will be difficult for it to balance.
“They are trying to portray themselves as neutral and party to the peace… while aiding and abetting the Russian war effort,” Blinken told CBS on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Chinese claim to Taiwan and its increasingly hostile presence in the region make any Russian-Chinese military cooperation more worrisome, according to what some Republican lawmakers believe.
“It could be Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow…so it’s that important,” Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC.