China is helping Russia carry out “its largest military expansion since the Soviet era, and at a greater pace than we thought possible” at the start of the war in Ukraine, a senior US official warned on Friday. The United States is encouraging Beijing to instead play “a constructive role” in the conflict, he said.
The Americans particularly hope that European countries will put pressure on China to reduce its military support for Russia. This call comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country maintains particularly close economic ties with China, is due to go there from Saturday for a three-day visit. The U.S. has recently increased its warnings to Beijing, and the question of militarySupport for Russia was on the menu of a recent conversation between Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The American president presents himself as Ukraine's main ally since the invasion by Russia, but his policy comes up against Republican opposition in Congress. In detail, the information available to the Biden administration shows that over the last three months of 2023, more than 70% of Russia's machine tool imports came from China.