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“Peace and dialogue must be promoted,” said the Chinese foreign minister, who continues juggling not to condemn the Russian attack while supporting Ukrainian sovereignty
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For Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, what is happening in Ukraine is a “crisis”. He does not contemplate defining it as a war. Far from it as an invasion by Russiawhich is the “most important and closest neighbor, the strategic partner”, with whom China shares “a friendship solid as a rock” and bilateral ties that “are among the most crucial in the world”.
This Monday in Beijing, the third session of the National People’s Assembly (PNA), the conclave of the Chinese political elite, was held. But all attention was on Minister Wang’s parallel press conference, which is still doing diplomatic juggling not to condemn Russia’s attack while supporting the sovereign Ukraine.
Wang, in his only annual appearance before the foreign press, declined to speak of an invasion, but said that China send humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He reiterated that the ties between Beijing and Moscow will not change regardless of the challenges faced by the international community, which will continue to maintain “strategic stability”, but also presented China’s candidacy as a mediator in Ukraine.
“China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role and works together with the international community when necessary to carry out the necessary mediation”insurance.
“Peace and dialogue must be promoted, and China has already made some efforts in this regard. There have been two rounds of negotiations and we hope there will be a third. The more disagreements, the greater the need to sit down to negotiate,” Wang said.
The minister hinted that last week, during the telephone conversation between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, the Chinese president urged his Russian colleague on the need to hold talks with Kiev, and that Putin “responded positively”.
Last Friday, in an interview published in EL MUNDO, the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, say that China needs to step up and mediate with Russia to stop the invasion of Ukraine as soon as possible. But as this newspaper reported on Sunday, China’s office before the EU once again officially put its profile on the question of its possible mediation, avoiding responding directly to Borrell’s demand.
Minister Wang has taken a step on Monday by acknowledging that China is ready to push for talks between Russia and Ukraine. “China has already done some work to promote peace talks and has been in contact with all the parties all the time“, he added. But he has taken the opportunity to continue sharing Putin’s argument that Moscow’s action is a response to NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe. “China supports the sovereignty of all countries, but also the legitimate concerns of security,” Wang said.
He has also charged against the United States, which he accused of having a “Cold War mentality” and of trying to maintain its world hegemony. Shifting focus to the Indo-Pacific region, he signaled to Washington try to establish a NATO in Asia “playing his geopolitical game with exclusive clubs like Quad and Five Eyes”, in addition to “not keeping his promise not to seek a confrontation with Beijing and support Taiwan’s independence”.
Before the press conference, Wang had a phone talk with the US secretary of state, Antony Blink. Washington’s top diplomat has been pressuring his counterpart in Beijing for a week in the face of China’s continued refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. From Australia, it was Prime Minister Scott Morrison who wanted to put pressure on Beijing, insisting that China has more power than any other country to stop the invasion. “No country will have a greater impact on ending this terrible war in Ukraine than China,” Morrison said.
Xi and Putin maintain a very solid strategic relationship. The two met in Peking three weeks before the invasion began, when they signed a “limitless” partnership. As the fighting has raged in Ukraine, Xi has faced suspicion from Washington and his allies about how much he really knew about Moscow’s plans, and whether he gave the Russian leader any private support in launching the right attack. after the Winter Olympics held in Beijing.
In the past two weeks, China has abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s invasion, and has criticized Western sanctions on Moscow, accusing the United States of escalating tensions.
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