Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to "stand up" to Russia during a Saturday meeting in Indonesia, The New York Times reports.
After the meeting, which lasted more than five hours, Blinken told reporters that Wang had repeated Chinese claims to neutrality in the war between Russia and Ukraine. "I would start with the proposition that it's pretty hard to be neutral when it comes to this aggression. There's a clear aggressor. There's a clear victim," Blinken said.
The secretary of state also told reporters he had "tried to convey" to Wang "that this really is a moment where we all have to stand up" and condemn Russian aggression.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia and China released a joint statement opposing NATO expansion and condemning the alliance's "ideologized cold war approaches" to international relations. The statement did not mention Ukraine directly. In May, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as China's top supplier of oil.
-
President Trump: ‘waging war’ on ChicagoTalking Point Federal agents are carrying out ‘increasingly aggressive’ immigration raids – but have sanctuary cities like Chicago brought it on themselves?
-
Crossword: October 18, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku hard: October 18, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DCSpeed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operations
Speed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rulesSpeed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Actspeed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in VenezuelaSpeed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
The Chinese threat: No. 10’s evidence leads to more questionsTalking Point Keir Starmer is under pressure after collapsed spying trial
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young RepublicansSpeed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats
