US warns China against providing material support to Russia's invasion

A senior US official has warned China against providing "material support" to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "unprovoked" war in Ukraine, saying sanctions against Moscow would give Beijing some idea of the menu from which America could choose.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's warning came on Thursday following the third convening of the EU-US dialogue on China in Brussels.

She said less than three weeks before Putin launched his unprovoked war against Ukraine, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Russia have "a no limits partnership" with no "forbidden areas" of cooperation.

"Since then we have seen the PRC signalling its support for Russia," she said.

"They (China) have failed to condemn Russian war crimes and voted against the resolution to expel Russia from the Human Rights Council."

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on April 7 to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council following reports of violations committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

China has repeatedly drawn false equivalencies between Russia's war of aggression and Ukraine's self-defensive actions," she said.

Sherman accused China's state-run media of parroting "the Kremlin's disinformation, including absurd claims that NATO and Ukraine posed a threat to Russia.

Let's be clear, China's already doing things that do not help this situation, Sherman said.

When asked about what the US could do if China provided material support to Russia, she said: And we've been very direct that they have seen what we have done in terms of sanctions, export controls, designations vis-a-vis Russia, so it should give them some idea of the menu from which we could choose if, indeed, China were to provide material support."

She hoped that Beijing would learn the "right lessons" from Russia's war, including that it can't separate the US from its allies.

At the same time, she said the US was trying to avoid a dramatic escalation with China.

"We don't want to start another Cold War, we don't want conflict, we don't want miscalculation. We want channels of communication, Sherman said.

We hope there are areas where there can be cooperation, but make no mistake, I believe that President Xi Jinping has made a decision about what he wants the PRC to be in the world. And it's a very different vision than we have in this room.

Sherman said she can give several examples that China is trying to undermine nations' political autonomy.

She condemned China's human rights record, its economic bullying and economic foul play, including stealing of trade secrets and intellectual property.