by N. Peter Kramer
The Chinese President Xi Jinping lashed out at the economic punishment the US and its allies have imposed on Russia and that could be extended to countries including China if they side with Moscow. Last week Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said President Biden would ‘make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it take to support Russia’s aggression and we will not hesitate to impose costs’. Also other US officials warned that the US was ready to punish China if it assisted Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Friday, during a call, Xi Jinping warned Biden against imposing ‘sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions’ as the Chinese leader fended off the treat of retaliation from the US over the Chinese stance on the Ukraine war. Xi asked Biden, according to an account of the call, for a ‘cool and rational’ approach. ‘Sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions would only make the people suffer’, Xi said. ‘If further escalated, they could trigger serious crises in the global economy and, trade, finance, energy, food and industrial and supply chains, crippling the already languishing world economy’. He added: ‘The pressing priority is to keep the dialogue and negotiation going, avoid civilian casualties, prevent a humanitarian crisis and cease hostilities as soon as possible’.
President Xi’s intervention has not fallen from the sky. It came a few days before the Summit of the 27 EU leaders and the meeting of the 30 NATO countries in Brussels. Germany, meanwhile, has also called a G7 summit, the leaders of all G7 countries except Japan will already be in Brussels. Joe Biden has also been invited to the EU Summit.
