WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The Central Intelligence Agency director is the latest voice in the chorus of Biden administration officials warning that China is weighing supplying lethal aid to Russia.
CIA Director William Burns made the distinction that there is no evidence of weapons and ammunition being sent, but he’s “confident” China is considering the consequences. He said sending military weapons would be risky and unwise.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said it’s not in China’s best interest, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there would be “serious consequences.”
President Joe Biden laid out that China supplying Russia with weapons would result in severe sanctions.
“I had a very frank conversation with President Xi this past summer on this issue and I pointed out to him … 600 American corporations left Russia, from McDonald’s to Exxon, across the board … and I said you may face the same consequence,” Biden said in an interview with ABC.
Chair of the China Task Force Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) only revealed some details on what weapons China is thinking about providing Moscow. He said there is intelligence that the Chinese are contemplating sending 100 drones.
“While it may be Ukraine today, it’s going to be Taiwan tomorrow, that’s why this is so important,” McCaul said, calling it very “disturbing.”
Burns also said that U.S. intelligence shows that China’s President Xi Jinping has instructed its military “to be ready by 2027” to invade Taiwan; although he may have doubts about his ability to do so given Russia’s experience with its war in Ukraine.
In a television interview that aired Sunday, Burns stressed that the U.S. must take “very seriously” Xi’s desire to ultimately control Taiwan even if military conflict is not inevitable.
On Monday, China accused the U.S. of “outright bullying and double standards” in leveling what it called “illegal” sanctions on Chinese companies as part of U.S. actions against Russia’s Wagner Group and related companies and individuals.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the punitive measures were “seriously harming China’s interests” and China “strongly rejects and deplores that and has lodged solemn complaints with the U.S. side.”
“While the U.S. has intensified its efforts to send weapons to one of the parties to the conflict, resulting in an endless war, it has frequently spread false information about China’s supply of weapons to Russia, taking the opportunity to sanction Chinese companies for no reason,” she said. “This is outright bullying and double standards.”
There have been reports that Jinping is planning to visit Moscow next week, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has agreed to that meeting.
China announced it is now floating a proposal to begin peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Biden dismissed it, saying Putin applauded it and questioned how it could be any good.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would meet with the Chinese president, wanting to believe it’s a sincere effort.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FILE – China’s President Xi Jinping arrives to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC summit, Nov. 19, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. The CIA director says U.S. intelligence shows that China’s President Xi Jinping has instructed his country’s military to “be ready by 2027” to invade Taiwan. But CIA Director William Burns also says Xi may be currently harboring doubts about his ability to make a move against Taiwan, given Russia’s experience in its war with Ukraine. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP, File) 
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, center, shakes hands with California Rep. Ro Khanna during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Khanna on Tuesday met with Taiwan’s president, who promised to deepen military cooperation between the two sides despite objections from China, which claims the island as its own territory. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)