China, which Russia has been trying to woo as an ally since the start of its war in Ukraine, called the United States the “main instigator” of the crisis.
In an interview with the Russian state news agency, Tass published on Wednesday, that China’s ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, accused Washington of pressuring the Kremlin with repeated NATO expansions and its support for Ukraine’s European path.
The accusations come as the White House administration debates whether to remove some of the tariffs on Chinese goods imposed by former President Donald Trump or impose new ones over the Taiwan crisis.
“As the initiator and main instigator of the Ukrainian crisis, Washington, while imposing unprecedented comprehensive sanctions against Russia, continues to supply arms and military equipment to Ukraine,” Zhang said.
“Their ultimate goal is to exhaust and crush Russia with prolonged war and sanctions.”
The ambassador’s reasoning is almost identical to Russia’s justifications for its invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and the destruction of entire cities and forced more than a quarter of the population to flee their homes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing in February to meet President Xi Jinping as Russian tanks massed on the Ukrainian border, and the two announced a “no-holds-barred” partnership.
In the interview, Zhang said that Sino-Russian relations have entered “the best period in history, characterized by the highest level of mutual trust, the highest degree of interaction, and the greatest strategic importance.”
He condemned a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week and accused the US of trying to apply its pro-Kyiv tactics to Taipei “to revive the Cold War, contain China and Russia, and provoke a confrontation between the great powers”.
China’s war games over Taiwan have caused Biden administration officials to change their minds about whether to remove some tariffs or potentially impose others on Beijing, with no concrete decision yet made, sources told Reuters.
President Joe Biden’s team has been grappling for months with various ways to ease the cost of tariffs imposed on Chinese imports during his predecessor Donald Trump’s tenure as he tries to curb rising inflation.
The White House is considering a combination of eliminating some tariffs, analyzing and preparing new tariffs in potential areas, and expanding a list of tariff exemptions to help American companies that can only receive certain supplies from China.
Biden has not made a decision on the matter and all options remain on the table, the White House said.
The tariffs make Chinese imports more expensive for American companies, which in turn makes the products cost more for consumers. Bringing down inflation is a key goal for Biden ahead of November’s midterm elections, which could hand control of one or both houses of Congress to Republicans.
But Beijing’s response to the Pelosi visit prompted a rethink by administration officials who want to avoid doing anything that could be seen by China as an escalation while seeking not to appear to be backing down in the face of the communist country’s aggression.
The Chinese military has been conducting ballistic missile launch maneuvers and simulated attacks on Taiwan for days.
For the moment, the focus of the US is on the so-called list of exceptions, and not so much on canceling old or imposing new restrictions, writes “Reuters”.
The Trump administration approved tariff exemptions for more than 2,200 categories of imports, including many critical industrial components and chemicals, but they lapsed when Biden took office in January 2021. US Trade Representative Catherine Tye reinstated only 352 of them. Industry groups and more than 140 US lawmakers have called on her to significantly increase that number.
The next steps of the Biden administration could have a significant impact on hundreds of billions of dollars in trade between the world’s two largest economies.
US industries – from consumer electronics and retailers to auto and aerospace companies – want Biden to cut tariffs by up to 25% as they grapple with rising costs and supply problems.
The tariffs were imposed in 2018 and 2019 by Trump on thousands of Chinese goods then worth $370 billion. The reason was to put pressure on China over the alleged theft of American intellectual property.
Some senior administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, argued that the tariffs were imposed on “non-strategic” consumer goods that unnecessarily raised costs for consumers and businesses and that removing them could help ease runaway inflation. Tai argued that the tariffs are “significant leverage” that should be used to pressure China into changes in its behavior.
