China unveils proposal clauses on “peace” on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine

Muhammad Jamal wrote

Friday, February 24, 2023 08:10 PM

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry published a proposal to achieve peace in Ukraine, coinciding with the first anniversary of the outbreak of the war, which shows no sign of an end on the horizon.

The Chinese declaration focuses on a cease-fire between Moscow and Kiev, and the initiation of peace talks between the two parties to end the war that broke out at dawn on February 24, 2022.

The Chinese declaration was titled “China’s position towards a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.” Prior to announcing the Chinese proposal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Beijing’s initiative. He said that China’s involvement in peacemaking efforts is an important first step, according to the Associated Press.

The Chinese declaration on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website states the following:

There must be strict adherence to recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively preserved, and this includes all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, they are all equal in the international community. All parties must uphold the basic norms governing international relations and defend international justice. Equality and equal application of international law should be promoted, with double standards rejected.

Ensuring the security of one country should not be at the expense of others. The security of a region should not be achieved through strengthening or expanding military blocs. The security interests and concerns of all countries must be taken seriously and properly addressed.

There is no easy solution to a complex issue. All parties should pursue a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable vision of security, taking into account long-term peace and stability, and contribute to the formation of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. All parties should oppose the pursuit of security at the expense of the security of others, avoid confrontation between blocs, and work together for peace and stability in the Eurasian continent.

Conflict and war benefit no one. All parties must show rationality and restraint, avoid things that fuel tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further, leading to it spiraling out of control.

All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction to restore direct dialogue as soon as possible, in order to gradually reduce escalation and eventually reach a comprehensive ceasefire.

Dialogue and negotiations are the only viable solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Efforts leading to a political solution to the crisis must be supported and encouraged. The international community must remain committed to the right choice to promote peace negotiations, help the parties to the conflict open the door to a political solution as soon as possible, and create conditions and platforms for the resumption of negotiations. China will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.

Finding a solution to the humanitarian crisis: Support and encouragement of all measures leading to the mitigation of the humanitarian crisis is required. Humanitarian operations must be governed by the principles of neutrality and impartiality, humanitarian issues should not be politicized, and the safety of civilians must be effectively protected, including by establishing humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from conflict areas. More efforts are needed to increase humanitarian assistance to relevant areas, improve humanitarian conditions, and provide rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, with the aim of preventing a humanitarian crisis on a larger scale.

The United Nations should be supported in playing a coordinating role in sending humanitarian aid to conflict areas.

The parties involved in the conflict must abide by international humanitarian law, avoid attacking civilians and civilian facilities, protect women and children and other victims of the conflict, and respect the basic rights of prisoners of war.

China supports the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, and calls on all sides to create more favorable conditions for this.

Safeguarding Nuclear Facilities: China opposes armed attacks on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities, and calls on all parties to abide by international law including the Nuclear Safety Treaty and avoid man-made nuclear disasters. China supports the IAEA in playing a constructive role in promoting the safety and security of peaceful nuclear facilities.

Nuclear weapons should not be used, nuclear wars should be avoided, the threat of use of nuclear weapons should be opposed, nuclear proliferation should be prevented and a nuclear crisis averted. China opposes the research, development and use of chemical and biological weapons by any country under any circumstances.

All parties need to implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative signed by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations fully, effectively and in a balanced manner, and support the United Nations to play an important role in this regard. The China-proposed Global Food Security Cooperation Initiative offers a practical solution to the global food crisis.

Unilateral sanctions and maximum pressure will not solve the issue, but only create new problems. China opposes unilateral sanctions not authorized by the UN Security Council. Concerned countries should stop abusing unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction” against other countries, so that they can play their part in alleviating the Ukraine crisis, and create conditions for developing countries to boost their economies and improve the lives of their people.

All parties must seriously preserve the existing global economic order and oppose the use of the economy as a means or weapon to achieve political goals. Joint efforts are required to mitigate the repercussions of the crisis and prevent it from disturbing international cooperation in the fields of energy, finance, trade, food and transportation, and undermining the recovery of the global economy.

The international community needs to take action to support post-war reconstruction in conflict areas. China is ready to provide assistance and play a constructive role in this endeavour.