Blinken urges top Chinese diplomat on Ukraine

At a G20 meeting, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken sought to calm tensions with Beijing in a bid to further isolate Russia. It was met with resistance.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — The battle in Ukraine shifted to a geopolitical front on Saturday, as Secretary of State Antony J Blinken met with China's foreign minister at the end of a G20 summit in Indonesia, urging him to change his stance and join the United States and its partners in "standing up" against Russia's war, while trying to ease general tensions with Beijing.

It was a change of tone for the Biden administration, which just over a year ago Week lobbied for a NATO plan, released at a summit in Madrid, to include a strong rebuke of China, labeling its policies 'coercive', cyber operations 'malicious' and rhetoric 'confrontational'.

The Biden administration's softer approach at the Group of 20 meeting reflected its conflicting foreign policy objectives. As he works to cement alliances with his Asian allies to coerce China, he is also trying to muster a global effort to punish Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine - an effort that stands little chance of success without the cooperation of China above all, but also countries like India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.

ImageCleaning up debris from a Russian rocket attack in Druzhivka, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday.Credit...Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

During the five-hour meeting, held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali a day after the G20 foreign ministers' summit, Blinken emphasized issues of common concern with Beijing, including climate change and global health, while underscoring US concern over the alignment ment of China on Russia. This followed months of American warnings to China against sending arms to Russia or helping Moscow to evade Western sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Addressing reporters afterwards, Blinken dismissed China's claims to be neutral in the war between Russia and Ukraine as implausible. "I tried to impress on the state councilor that this is really a time when we all have to stand up" to condemn Russian aggression, Blinken said, using the official title of China's business minister Foreigners, Wang Yi.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"I would start with the proposition that it is quite difficult to be neutral in the face of this aggression," Blinken said, pointing out that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had backed his declaration in February of a partnership with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, and even held a joint strategic bombing exercise in May.

“There is clearly an attacker. There is an obvious victim."

ImageA charred building in Hostomel, Ukraine, on Thursday Mr. Blinken said he told Mr. Wang that "this is truly a time when we all need to stand up" to condemn Russian aggression.Credit...Emile Ducke for The New York Times