A security officer tries to escort out a protester who interrupts former US national security adviser H.R. McMaster as he testifies during the first hearing held by the US' House China Select Committee on February 28, 2023 in Washington. The protester holds a sign reading "China is not our enemy." Photo: VCG

Washington is reportedly consulting US allies to impose sanctions on China in a coordinated manner "if China provides military support for Russia" - an unwarranted smear by the US that has intensified in recent weeks. 

Observers said on Thursday that the US' intentions behind the "open secret" are crystal clear, including but not limited to justifying US sanctions and other anti-China deeds, undermining China's peaceful stance on the conflict to stain China's international image, as well as hijacking allies for a bloc confrontation taking shape. 

Reuters, citing four anonymous US officials and other sources, reported on Wednesday that the US is sounding out close allies about the possibility of imposing new sanctions on China if the latter provides military support to Russia. 

The consultations, which are still at a preliminary stage, are intended to drum up support from a range of countries, especially those in the wealthy Group of Seven, to coordinate support for any possible restrictions, Reuters said.

Cui Heng, an assistant research fellow at the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, interpreted the move as the US actively roping in allies in preparation for a bloc confrontation.  

To court is also to hijack, Cui told the Global Times on Thursday, adding that the US wants to ensure coordinated actions not only on Russia, but also on China, and Washington is the last in the world that is willing to see Europe act with autonomy.  

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel may visit China in the first half of 2023 and the two sides are expected to usher in frequent high-level mutual visits, China's envoy to the EU revealed recently in an exclusive interview with the Global Times. French President Emmanuel Macron said he is about to visit China in April. 

The US' groundless accusations also reflected its anxiety over the battlefield of Russia-Ukraine crisis and changes in the balance of strength, Cui said.  

The consultations come at a time when the US, from senior officials to unidentified sources, hyped China's mulling of sending weapons and ammunition to aid Russia. 

Besides the Reuters report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said China cannot put forward peace proposals while feeding the flames of the fire, and threatened to target Chinese firms and people. 

It is the US that has been supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, fanning the flames and spreading false information, to which China is firmly opposed. The US should reflect on itself and stop misleading people rather than lecturing others, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at Thursday's press briefing. 

Cui saw the unwarranted accusation of giving military aid to Russia as part of the US' public opinion war against China and an "open secret."

The US knows this doesn't exist, but through all those "warnings" based on a hypothesis, the US can justify its ongoing and future sanctions on Chinese firms and accelerate the militarization of the island of Taiwan, the expert said. 

The Biden administration has approved an estimated $619 million potential arms sale to Taiwan island, including hundreds of missiles for F-16 fighter jets, after a US House of Representatives committee on Tuesday advanced a raft of China-related sanction bills, according to media reports.

In response to the arms sale, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its sovereignty and security, Mao said at the briefing. Some 29 PLA aircraft and four PLA vessels were detected around the island of Taiwan between Wednesday and Thursday, with 21 of the aircraft entering the island's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone, said the island's defense authority in a press release on Thursday.

The US' second purpose of "aiding Russia" smears is to undermine China's stance of calling for peace and a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, and to smear China's international image as a responsible, peace-loving major power, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. 

It has also attempted to use this smear campaign as a preface for more toxic and harmful moves in the future, Li said.