US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks during a news conference in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday. (Stephanie Reynolds/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken blasted China for supporting Russia after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for more than five hours on Saturday.
At a news conference on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken said “the nations of the G20 have come together to address some of the most critical challenges facing the people of the world , including the wide-ranging consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, especially increasing food insecurity, rising energy prices.”
“We heard that most countries condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” he added.
However, he said: “What you hear from Beijing is that it claims to be neutral. I would start by saying that it is quite difficult to be neutral when it comes to this aggression.”
“There is a clear aggressor, there is a clear victim, there is a clear challenge not only to the lives and livelihoods of people in Ukraine, but there is also a challenge to the international order that China and the United States as permanent members of the Security Council must decide to maintain,” he added Blinken. “I don’t think China is actually engaging in a way that implies neutrality,” he said.
“More than 11 million people in Ukraine have fled their homes since the start of the aggression. That’s more than a quarter of the entire population of Ukraine. These are huge numbers and they will only increase as the war continues,” he said.
More than four months after this brutal invasion, the PRC (China) is still standing by Russia, spreading Russian propaganda around the world,” Blinken added.
Add Comment