Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez warned Thursday of high stakes as President Biden prepares to call Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Concern over China’s alignment with Russia has grown following reports that Moscow asked Beijing for military and other assistance as the war in Ukraine drags on, and Mr. Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, called on Mr. Biden to lay out the consequences should China provide military assistance to Russia or assist the Kremlin in evading U.S. sanctions.
“China is still the single [greatest] geostrategic challenge,” Mr. Menendez said. “Right now, it may be playing a nefarious role with Russia, and so that has to heighten the conversation the president is having.”
“The stakes are higher than they were before,” he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the call will focus on the war and economic issues and would offer an opportunity for Mr. Biden to “assess where President Xi stands” concerning Russia.
“There has been, of course, rhetorical support or the absence of denunciation by China for what Russia is doing, including the basic principles of the U.N. charter,” she said.
Ms. Psaki also said the U.S. has significant concerns that China will provide Russia with weapons.
On Monday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in which the two discussed “a range of issues of interest to the United States and the international community.”
A senior White House official described the call as “an intense seven-hour session reflecting the gravity of the moment,” and said Mr. Sullivan was direct about America’s “concerns about China’s alignment with Russia.”
Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Brent Sadler said the White House’s scheduling of Friday’s call between the two presidents signals that an impasse was reached in the call earlier this week.
“It says there’s a disagreement,” Mr. Sadler said. “I suspect that there were two issues that they couldn’t come eye to eye on. One is economic and financial lifelines to the Russians. And the second one is non-agreement regarding the provision of military equipment or hardware to the Russians.”
The White House has yet to confirm reports that Russia has directly asked China for military or economic assistance, and Mr. Sadler said there is room for remaining skeptical that the request was made.
Nonetheless, Mr. Sadler said it is in China’s interest for the war in Ukraine to drag on.
“Their focus is on Taiwan and the Communist Party of China,” Mr. Sadler said. “It’s in their best interest that this fight draws on, and creates divisions within the West.”
“It’s also financially not in China’s best interest to help the United States right now, because they want to create another alternative to Swift financing, and they want to create a yuan-based economy,” he added. “The best time is right now, so it doesn’t make any sense for the Chinese to be helpful.”
Sen. Mitt Romney, Utah Republican, said the dynamics set up an extremely delicate situation going into Friday’s call. He said Mr. Biden should appeal to Mr. Xi’s interest in “siding with the great majority of nations in the world that believes Russia has abused the Ukrainian people.”
“Xi should distance himself from Vladimir Putin, distance himself from the invasion of Ukraine, and stand with the Ukrainian people,” he said.
Such a stance, Mr. Romney said, is “both in the interest of China as well as in the interest of the world.”
“If it looks like Xi is headed to go the wrong way, then that would change my strategy,” he added. “And I’d be inclined to say, ‘Hey, let me let you know what the consequences might be.’”
Other Republicans decried America’s weakened stance on the global stage, which they said has led to the current situation and could quickly spill over to a more pronounced conflict with China.
“Xi is watching very closely what’s happening in Ukraine and he’s seeing Biden repeatedly surrender to Putin, particularly waiving sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the weakness of this administration,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican.
“Lack of resolve from the White House is only emboldening China more,” he said.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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