Blinken criticizes China's support of Russian defence industry

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized China for supporting the Russian arms industry at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Laos on Saturday.

Blinken made it clear that the US would continue to take "necessary actions" if China did not end this threat to European security, a US State Department spokesman said.

Since Russia's all-out war against Ukraine erupted in February 2022, Washington has accused Beijing of supplying Moscow with so-called "dual-use materials," like machine tools and electronics, that help Russia on the battlefield.

Blinken also expressed his concern about Beijing's "destabilizing actions" in the South China Sea.

China's foreign minister, in turn, accused the United States of having "intensified its efforts to contain and suppress China."

The risks to bilateral ties would only continue to grow, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which said the relationship between the world's two biggest economies was at a "critical point."

The top diplomats talked on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' conference in the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Their meeting lasted just under 90 minutes.

Both sides said the ministers recognized that it was important to keep open channels of communication between Beijing and Washington.

Relations between the United States and China have been extremely tense for some time. The US accuses China of human rights violations, unfair trade practices and unlawful territorial claims in the South China Sea. China says the United States is trying to block its development with far-reaching sanctions and punitive tariffs.