The number two of the US State Department Wendy Sherman on Thursday denounced China's desire for hegemony in the world, calling on Europe to help the United States counter competition from Beijing.
"Even before (Chinese) President Xi and (Russian) President Vladimir Putin declared their 'limitless' partnership in February, China challenged security in Europe, economy in Europe and values in Europe
. said Wendy Sherman during a videoconference from Washington with the European press.
To read also Ukraine, a hot conflict of the China / United States cold war?
Speaking of China's
"economic harassment"
aimed at Europe, Wendy Sherman cited the recent blocking of Lithuanian exports by China, the fact that Beijing
"failed to deliver"
the construction of a motorway in Montenegro and even targeting European companies such as Adidas or Nike.
Wendy Sherman's press briefing follows the speech of her boss, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who recently made Beijing the main threat to world order, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Washington accuses Beijing of wanting to reshape the world order.
In a speech on May 25, the secretary of
The Biden administration has spoken of the need to pressure China to play by the rules, including in its South China Sea and trade disputes.
"Even if Beijing is thousands of kilometers away (..), China's actions
have an impact on the future of Europe", underlined Wendy Sherman, welcoming the current cooperation with the Europeans in this area while wishing to
"align our approaches.
The American diplomat notably highlighted the fact that
“everyone is thinking about supply chain issues”
in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
"The United States is not looking for conflict"
with China or to
"decouple"
its economy from that of China, said the Deputy Secretary of State.
"We don't want a new Cold War
," she said, but
"we can't count on Beijing to change its behavior."
She also stressed that the United States was
"attentive"
to this alliance between Russia and China, threatening Beijing
"with consequences"
if the Chinese authorities ever decided to send equipment (weapons, editor's note) to Russia. , which is currently not the case.
But she denounced the fact that Beijing massively relayed a whole series of
"disinformation"
from Moscow.
"Quite frankly, I think Russia and Putin will be pariahs for a very long time and I'm not sure China will benefit from that
," she concluded.