Blinken urges Chinese counterpart to 'stand up' to Russia


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.
Subscribe to 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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
'HBCUs have always had to think more strategically'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day