China firmly opposes the continued spread of ungrounded false information by the United States about Russia's "defense industrial base fueled by China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday.
Lin's remarks came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's accusation at the 2024 NATO Public Forum.
"We express strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the erroneous remarks made by the U.S. side," Lin told media at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
The U.S. has claimed that China was providing military support to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis but failed to provide substantial evidence, Lin said, adding that the head of the U.S. military had confessed that China did not offer such assistance to Russia in the conflict.
The Chinese spokesperson cited a study by the KSE Institute, a think tank affiliated with the Kyiv School of Economics, that more than 95 percent of all parts found in Russian weapons on Ukraine's battlefield were sourced from producers in Ukraine's Western allies, with 72 percent accounted for by U.S.-based companies alone.
The U.S. and its allies have not interrupted their trade with Russia, and most countries in the world have not participated in sanctions against Russia or interrupted trade with Russia. The U.S. can't dump the pot on China, Lin said.
He reiterated that China is not a creator of the Ukrainian crisis, let alone a party to it. "We never fuel the flames or exploit the situation for selfish gains, nor will we provide weapons to any party to the conflict," he said.
He added that Chinese enterprises, in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization and the principles of the market, carry out normal economic and trade cooperation with other countries around the world, including Russia and Ukraine, in a reasonable and rational manner, and it is not the turn of certain individual countries to point their fingers at.
The United States should not presume to make China pay for its wrongdoings, and China will never accept the U.S.' shirking responsibility, bullying and coercion, said the spokesperson.
(Cover: A view of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. /CFP)