Four highlights of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine US Congress considers China’s role in ‘axis’ bill – BBC News

The bill cites China’s interactions with Russia before and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

On March 18, US President Biden and Xi Jinping told each other in a phone call that China “will have consequences if it provides material support to Russia.”

China’s “disinformation behavior in Russia’s war against Ukraine makes it responsible for whitewashing Russia’s war crimes”.

The law would obligate the U.S. State Department, in consultation with the Commerce Department and the Director of National Intelligence, to publicly submit unclassified reports on China within 30 days of the law taking effect and every 90 days thereafter.

The report will include how China:

The bill proposes that the U.S. State Department no longer has to submit the report after the end of the war in Ukraine, or two years after it takes effect.

The bill was introduced by U.S. Republican Representative Andy Barr on March 31 and passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 27.

“The alliance between China and the Russian Kremlin is the new axis of evil that threatens the United States and the rules-based international order,” Barr told the House of Representatives on the day the bill was passed.

“We need a full report on how Russia and China are working together to inform the public and enable lawmakers to begin positioning the United States to overcome this geopolitical challenge.”

Michael McCaul, a U.S. Republican congressman and head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also said, “China has demonstrated that it is neither willing nor capable of being a constructive partner in Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. On the contrary. , they are accomplices.”

McCall also praised the legislation, saying it “will help the American people understand how evil this alliance is.”

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken promised that if the bill goes into effect, he will fully cooperate with the requirements of the bill to investigate whether China has provided any assistance to Russia.

According to the latest report released by the Pew Research Centre, a US polling agency, the American public is most concerned about China’s alliance with Russia.

The poll focused on seven areas: China’s alliance with Russia, China’s participation in U.S. politics, China’s military power, China’s human rights policy, economic competition with China, tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and China’s policy toward Hong Kong. Among them, more than 60% of the respondents expressed concern about the alliance between China and Russia.

On the issue of the threat posed by Chinese power and influence, 67 percent approve, up from 62 percent in 2020.

And in the U.S. Congress, with tensions between the U.S. and China, U.S. congressmen have submitted hundreds of bills involving China, including: “Say No to China’s Silk Road” bill, “Condemn the Chinese Communist Party for human rights abuses and support for China” People Support Freedom Act, Accountability CCP 2022 Act, etc.

Just before the “Axis Act” was submitted, U.S. President Biden officially signed the “Federal Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022” on March 11, which “prohibits the U.S. government from using funds to make, procure, or display any incorrectly labelled Taiwan.” map of the territory”.

The “Axis Act”, which included Xi Jinping’s name in the title of the bill, was passed by the House of Representatives in a short period of time, which not only shows the US political circles’ support for Ukraine, but also reflects the high importance the US attaches to China’s role in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Putting Xi Jinping’s name into the title of the bill, and simply calling it the “Axis” bill, is easily reminiscent of the history of the United States and its allies against the “Axis” in World War II.

The so-called “Axis Powers” were an alliance led by Germany, Italy and Japan against the Allies in World War II.

The alliance arose out of a series of agreements between Germany and Italy, followed by the announcement on 25 October 1936 of an “axis” linking Rome and Berlin. Germany and Italy claim that the world will from now on revolve around the Rome-Berlin axis.

In recent years, as China and Russia have become increasingly close in economic, military and bilateral cooperation, concerns about the formation of a new “axis” between the two countries have increasingly appeared in Western public opinion.

Western China experts concluded a few years ago that the increasingly close axial relationship between China and Russia is a new and important feature in international affairs.