Blinken's upcoming visit to China, why is the United States particularly "concerned" about Sino-Russian relations? Ukraine has run out of air defense missiles, but the US military factory has a bizarre burst into flames, and Zelensky's complaints about the West will have an impact on China-US-EU relations?
Blinken's upcoming visit to China has brought China-Russia relations into focus
Prior to Blinken's visit to China, the United States was particularly "concerned" about Sino-Russian relations. Reuters reported that on April 16, U.S. State Department spokesman Miller gave a "briefing" on Blinken's visit to China. Miller said that Blinken is about to visit China, and he is expected to raise "American concerns" with the Chinese side, namely that China is helping Russia build a defense industry.
On Friday, U.S. officials said China was supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, helping Moscow with its largest build-up of armaments since the Soviet era, providing drone and missile technology, satellite imagery and machine tools.
U.S. officials also gave detailed data: in 2023, about 90% of Russia's microelectronics came from China, which Russia uses to make missiles, tanks and aircraft. In the fourth quarter of 2023, nearly 70% of Russia's approximately $900 million in machine tool imports came from China.
On Tuesday, Blinken traveled to Italy to attend a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers. He said that at the meeting, the United States would raise concerns about China's support for the Russian defense industry. He also plans to raise the issue with the Chinese side in person during his visit to China. The U.S. State Department's Assistant Secretary for Asia-Pacific Affairs, who visited China from 14 to 16 July, also raised concerns about "aiding Russia" to China. He said that after months of high tensions, the channels of communication between China and the United States have largely normalized, but China's "support" for the Russia-Ukraine war poses a risk to efforts to stabilize relations between the two sides.
The main reason is that the pressure of the recent war in Ukraine is too great, and the United States has not been able to provide Ukraine with the most urgently needed aid before the election.
Ukraine has implemented the strictest conscription order, and the US military factory has been bizarre and on fire
Let's take a look at what's happening in Ukraine lately: on April 15, the strictest conscription order in Ukraine's history lowered the minimum age for military service from 27 to 25, and even women may be required to fight in battle.
In addition, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Syrsky, recently signed an order on the prevention of desertion, demanding severe punishment for the increasing disobedience of the Ukrainian army. The Russian Satellite News Agency reported that since the failure of the counteroffensive last summer, the desertion of the Ukrainian army has increased, and many Ukrainian soldiers have refused to obey orders or deserted.
In order to solve these problems, the Ukrainian army has arranged for a team of overseers, including foreign mercenaries. However, videos circulating on social media show that even though there were English-speaking foreign overseers in battle, there were still Ukrainian troops who dared to disobey and even shot and threw grenades at the overseers.
However, punishing deserters alone will not solve all the problems, and in addition to the lack of soldiers, Ukraine is also short of weapons. Zelensky said in an interview with the media on the 16th that at present, Ukraine does not have enough missiles for defense. He pointed out that on the 11th, Russia fired 11 missiles at the Tripoli thermal power station, which supplies electricity to Kyiv Oblast, and the Ukrainian army intercepted the first 7 of them, but due to the exhaustion of anti-aircraft missiles, 4 missiles still hit and destroyed the Tripoli thermal power station in the end.
Not only was Ukraine unable to intercept the missiles of the Russian army, but the Ukrainian army's strikes on targets on the Russian mainland did not achieve the expected results. Reuters reported on the 15th that since the beginning of this year, Ukrainian drones have carried out high-intensity strikes on Russian oil facilities, but the Russian repair work is very fast, and in less than a month, the production capacity that was originally shut down due to the attack has been restored by nearly one-third. Russian crude refining capacity is expected to reach 4.4 million tonnes in April, up from the 4.1 million tonnes affected by the attack in March.
The reason why the strike effect of the Ukrainian army is not ideal is that, on the one hand, the drones launched are very easy to intercept, and on the other hand, the strikes on Russian oil facilities are opposed by the United States, on the grounds that it will cause international oil prices to rise, which is not conducive to the United States' fight against inflation.
In the face of US opposition, Ukraine had to suspend its attack on Russian oil facilities. And very coincidentally, at the same time that Zelensky continued to threaten to attack Russia and ask for assistance from the United States, a bizarre fire suddenly broke out in an American military factory.
According to US media reports, on the afternoon of the 15th local time, the US Army's Scranton Ammunition Factory, which mainly produces 155 mm artillery shells and various mortar shells, sent a fire alarm, and a large number of firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire.
The report pointed out that the Scranton ammunition plant is operated by General Dynamics, and the ammunition it produces is not only for the United States itself, but also for Ukraine's main source of artillery shells. At present, the cause of the fire is under investigation, and it is not clear how much damage will be done and whether it will have an impact on the production of ammunition.
The United States strongly supports Israel, and Ukraine is jealous
As for the cause of this fire, a conspiracy theory has appeared on the Internet, believing that the fire may not be accidental, but that the United States does not want or cannot provide military assistance to Ukraine, so it has found such an excuse to delay the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.
For example, on April 15, Norway announced that it had reached a security agreement with Ukraine, becoming the 10th country to sign a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine. Prior to this, major European powers such as Britain, Germany, and France had joined this security alliance. But in this alliance, there is no United States.
There are many reasons why the United States refuses to participate, not only because of the unstable political situation before the election, but also because the United States is now in an eventful time, not only because Ukraine needs assistance, but also because the escalating Palestinian-Israeli conflict also requires the United States to worry about it. In addition, the inflation crisis in the United States has also made the United States reluctant to see commodity prices rise, and therefore unwilling to promote the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Zelensky is very dissatisfied with this attitude of the United States. Because the difference between the protection of Israel by the United States and the protection of Ukraine is too great. Since October 7 last year, Israel has been almost openly confronted by the international community, but the United States has always fully supported Israel. In contrast, the United States has always been reluctant to leave Ukraine, and even at the end of last year, it simply cut off all aid on the grounds of congressional disagreements, putting all the burden on Europe.
After Iran's air strikes on Israel, the House of Representatives of the US Congress played a new trick, saying that it would vote separately on aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in order to break the deadlock that had lasted for a long time. On the surface, this move is in response to Zelensky's warning on April 7 that if the United States does not pass the Ukraine aid bill again, Ukraine will be defeated. But in reality, the Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, are not in favor of aiding Ukraine. In doing so, they just want to split the aid bill that was originally tied together, and give priority to the most urgent aid bill, and as for the part that aids Ukraine, it is likely to be shelved indefinitely.
Zelensky couldn't bear it, and the West increased pressure on China
In the face of the favoritism of the United States, Zelensky finally couldn't help but criticize it publicly. In a speech on April 15, he said that the West should show Ukraine the same unity as Israel. He thanked allies for providing Ukraine with more air defenses, but the two sides also need greater unity under a Russian attack, as the West has shown in defending Israel.
Zelensky also said that the Russian attack was a terrorist attack and that it was possible to protect Ukraine from terror. Neither Ukraine nor Israel is a member of NATO, and since the West can protect Israel, then it can protect Ukraine.
In general, the Iranian air strikes that have just occurred may bring a lot of subtle changes to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The unsparing efforts of the United States, Britain and France in protecting Israel have made Ukraine feel a strong contrast, and it has also completely seen the West's double-standard position.
Now, Ukraine has made a desperate bet and is determined to resist the Russian offensive through a larger conscription. If the West is unable to provide sufficient assistance at this time, it may cause more irritation to Ukraine, and may even trigger phenomena such as the rout of troops and mutiny. In this context, the United States and other Western countries are bound to increase pressure on China, trying to pay more money for themselves and rely solely on the special relationship between China and Russia to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict.