Nearly one year after the start of the devastating conflict between Russia and Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a stern warning to Chinese counterpart Wang Yi Sunday of “serious consequences” should they provide support to aid Russia’s war effort. Blinken referenced “some further information that we are sharing today, [that] indicates that they are strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia. To the best of our knowledge, they haven’t crossed that line yet.”

The U.S. has evidence that China is providing non-lethal aid, however, the potential provision of lethal aid would carry immense consequences. In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman warned that action from China may trigger a “true world war” with affects every global market. In regards to China