America warns China about giving arms to Russia, said- you cannot ride two boats

US President Joe Biden is working to bridge the gap between Europe, Asia and America. This was said by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Let us tell you, America’s Indo-Pacific partners – Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand have also been invited to participate in this conference.

Invited for the third time

In fact, this is the third consecutive time that the US has invited its Indo-Pacific partners. This reflects the fact that their work is interconnected. This was probably made clear by Ukraine, when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that what is happening in Europe today can happen in East Asia tomorrow.

When Russia attacked…

Blinken said, ‘When Russia showed aggression against Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand stood up against it. This showed that these challenges are interconnected. Also, when democracies stand together, whether they are in Europe, Asia or elsewhere, we will be stronger and more effective.’

He further said, ‘So as we are gathering here in Washington with our Indo-Pacific partners, it means that we are eliminating the rifts between Europe, Asia and the United States. One of President Biden’s objectives from day one has been to not only improve relations with our allies but also to eliminate barriers between European partners and Asian partners.’

Discussion on China too

He also said that discussions are also going on about how to approach Russia and China.

China providing weapons to Russia

Blinken said, ‘What has happened in the last one and a half years has strengthened this need. Unfortunately, we see that China is not only providing weapons to Russia to continue its aggression, but is playing a major role in Moscow’s defense industrial base. 70 percent of the machine tools that Russia is importing are coming from China. Not only this, 90 percent of the microelectronics used by Moscow are coming from China. Beijing has enabled Russia to maintain its aggression against Ukraine.’

China cannot ride two boats

He said, ‘We have seen a big increase in its weapons like tanks, missiles, war materials in the last one and a half years. These weapons are being given by China to Moscow. The result is that European allies understand the challenge posed by China to the security of Europe. China certainly cannot have it both ways.’

He further said, ‘It cannot happen all at once or it cannot claim that it is for peace and wants better relations with Europe, while at the same time, the most important threat to European security since the end of the Cold War is being promoted.’

Relations between Russia and North Korea

The top US diplomat said, ‘We see this in the relationship between Russia and North Korea. This is absolutely clear. In all of these areas, as well as in some of the hybrid threats that you mentioned earlier, the relationship is becoming clearer and clearer. The alliance (NATO) is one place and probably I would argue a central place, where we can bring everyone together so that we can work together.’

Two-way focus on China

He said the US is focusing on China in two ways. Blinken said, ‘First, we are investing in our country to make sure that we are taking on China from a position of strength domestically. When you look at everything that has happened in the last three and a half years with the incredible investments in our own infrastructure – our roads, our bridges, our communications – when you look at our commitment to make sure that we maintain our leadership, our world leadership on microelectronics, when you look at the investments we have made in climate technology, which is going to be a critical part of the 21st century economy, which puts the United States in a position of strength. European allies are doing exactly the same thing.’

He said, ‘But the other aspect of this is not only to re-energize our alliances and partnerships, starting with Europe, but also to make sure that we have a common approach to some of the challenges posed by China.’

What did NATO say in the strategic concept?

He said, ‘I think if you look at what NATO has said in the strategic concept, if you look at what the major European countries have said, what the European Union has said, it is absolutely clear that we have more convergence than ever before in terms of dealing with China. This is a source of tremendous strength.’

Blinken said that this means that instead of one country dealing with the challenges alone – America which represents maybe 20 percent of the world GDP – suddenly they have joined forces with 40, 50 and Asian partners representing 60 percent of the world GDP.

He said, ‘This makes a huge difference. Since these challenges are interconnected, there is a need for Europe as well as Asia to work together, coordinate and harmonize to tackle some of the problems posed by China.