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he Pentagon on Wednesday pledged “consequences” for Beijing if it heeds Moscow’s desperate pleas for arms and ammunition but yet again stopped short of detailing how it would follow through on the stern but vague threat.
Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh delivered the cagey response during a press conference in which she demurred despite repeated requests for specifics.
“I don’t want to forecast any of those consequences,” she said.
It wasn’t the first such shadowy warning. In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News, Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to a “serious problem” if China looked to strengthen its alliance with Russia at this time.
But analysts who study Chinese military tactics suggest the targeted ambiguity serves a larger purpose – that the vagueness of the U.S. threats is likely an attempt to preempt Beijing’s well-trod tactics of confounding Western restrictions.
“Once you get into what China can or cannot provide, the Chinese can always come up with ways to circumvent a specific list and the Chinese can be very creative,” says Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center think tank. “A broad statement covers all bases.”
