CIA Director William Burns said the United States is “confident” that China is considering providing lethal weapons to Russia in its more than yearlong war with Ukraine.
“We’re confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment,” Burns told CBS News’ ”Face the Nation” in an excerpt of an interview that will air Sunday.
But the spy chief emphasized that there is as yet no indication that Beijing has begun shipping arms to Russia.
“We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don’t see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment,” Burns said.
“And that’s why, I think, Secretary Blinken and the president have thought it important to make very clear what the consequences of that would be as well,” he continued.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the possibility of China providing military aid in an interview last week after his sit down with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Summit.
“What we’ve seen over the past years is, of course, some political and rhetorical support, even some nonlethal support. But we are very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia in its aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said.
“And I made clear that that would have serious consequences in our relationship as well, something that President Biden has shared directly with President Xi on several occasions,” he said.
Biden, who made a surprise visit to Ukraine last Monday, said there has been “no evidence” that China is ready to send weapons to Russia, but said China would face repercussions from the global community if it does.
“I had a long conversation with Xi about this in the summer. And I said, ‘Look, this is not a threat. It’s just a statement. When, in fact, Europeans saw what was happening, and Americans saw what’s happening in Russia — in Europe, guess what? Six hundred corporations pulled out. They left. They didn’t want to be associated.’ I said, ‘You told me that the future of China rests on investment from the Western world. And that matters.’ I said, ‘I’d just keep on eye on that,’” he told reporters at the White House last Friday, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who hosted Biden in Kyiv to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, voiced a much more dire outlook if China intervenes.
“Because if China allies itself with Russia, there will be a world war, and I do think that China is aware of that,” he said last week.
Burns, asked about the administration’s threat to release intelligence showing China is weighing military assistance to Russia, said a decision by Xi to move ahead with the shipments “would be a very risky and unwise bet.”
“I think the Chinese are also trying to weigh the consequences of, you know, what the concerns we’ve expressed are, you know, about providing lethal equipment,” Burns said.
“Where’s the point at which, you know, they would run into some pretty serious consequences. And that’s what we’ve tried to make clear,” he said.
The US’ top spook also said that Xi has been aware of the unity the West has shown during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“There’s no foreign leader who’s watched more carefully Vladimir Putin’s experience in Ukraine, the evolution of the war, than Xi Jinping has,” he said. “I think, in many ways, he’s been unsettled and sobered by what he’s seen.”
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