US warns Europe to take seriously China’s aid to Russia

The US is stepping up its diplomatic efforts to convince Europe of the extent of China’s role in supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine. According to the second most senior figure in the US State Department, Europe is now toughening its stance towards Beijing.

Kurt Campbell – the deputy secretary of state who until recently served as US President Joe Biden’s “Indo-Pacific czar” – delivered this warning to European diplomats at NATO this week with “as much detail and specificity as possible”. His visit came ahead of a major summit of NATO heads of state and government in Washington in July, where the alliance is expected to send a stern message to Beijing.

“It is fair to say that China’s overarching goal has been not only to support Russia – to the extreme, in our view – but also to publicly downplay it and try to maintain normal diplomatic and trade relations with Europe,” Campbell said in a statement. A small group of media, including Politico, during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday.

“And I think what drove us yesterday in the discussions at the NAC [North Atlantic Council, the main policy-making body within NATO] was how many European countries made it clear that it would be impossible to maintain a normal relationship with China if at the same time the Chinese were secretly fomenting the most destabilizing war in Europe since World War II,” Campbell said.

Campbell described Beijing’s aid to Russia over the past 18 to 24 months as “deeply disturbing”.

“I want to emphasize that what we’ve seen from China in Russia is not one or a few rogue companies involved in helping Russia.”

“This is a sustained, comprehensive effort, supported by the leadership in China, aimed at giving Russia any behind-the-scenes support that will allow them to rebuild elements of their forces, their missiles, their long-range unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, some of their battle tracking capabilities, long-range artillery and the like,” Campbell said. This is an effort that will largely be done out of sight.

In addition to the war against Russia, China’s trade overcapacity has been another common focus for the US and the EU.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration quadrupled tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 percent. The European Commission is expected to begin imposing tariffs soon.

European firms – from German car giants to French cognac makers – have urged their countries not to start a trade war with China, fearing they could lose market access if Chinese authorities take punitive action in retaliation.

Campbell cited China’s economic uncertainties as a reason why Beijing may not be as tough on Europe as it has been in the past when imposing tariffs.

“In the current environment, I think China is aware of some of the weaknesses in its economy and therefore has been cautious to take some of the broad retaliatory measures that we have seen in previous periods against Australia, the Korea of the South, the Philippines and others,” he said.

“I don’t think we should take too much comfort from that. But I think there is now a realization that the economic and trade circumstances are more complex from Beijing’s point of view.”

“In many ways, if the moves between countries are coordinated, it’s more difficult to simply take action against one country or another,” Campbell said.

/The Geopost