The official participation of Chinese representative Li Hui in the international negotiations “without Russia” on the “Ukrainian crisis” in Jeddah did not seem to cause much excitement in the Chinese press. And it didn’t even show up in the sections of the so-called. hot topics. Unlike the Russian media. True, today’s news completely interrupted the interest in China’s behavior in Jeddah among a significant part of the Russian population who were planning business and tourist trips to China.
From August 7 China toughened rules for entry into the country for Russians from 14 to 70 years old. But the promised visa-free entry for group tours from Russia to China remains on paper. Although it was supposed to come into effect on August 1. Now our citizens will have to take mandatory biometrics, for which an appointment has been introduced (at the PRC Visa Center in Moscow, you can already make an appointment only for the second half of August). The biometric procedure itself, as explained in one of the major Moscow travel agencies, takes 7 days. Plus, in addition to the visa fee for a visa, a mandatory service fee has also been introduced. From the point of view of “development and strengthening of cooperation”, these steps are difficult to understand. But perhaps China has quite objective reasons for such steps. As well as for Li Hui’s participation in the negotiations “without Russia” in Jeddah.
Recall. that China did not participate in the first meeting of this format, and the trip to Jeddah was not planned. China’s official news agency Xinhua limited itself to a short comment:
Talks on the Ukraine crisis concluded on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, calling for continued international efforts to create a common framework for peace, the Saudi press agency said. Participants also stressed the importance of using the views and positive suggestions presented during the two-day meeting. At a meeting chaired by the Saudi Minister of State and National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aybansecurity advisers and representatives from more than 40 countries and international organizations, including China and the United Nations, attended.
So what happened in Jeddah anyway? The Wall Street Journal quotes Western diplomats as follows:
“One of the reasons for choosing Saudi Arabia to host this meeting was to persuade China to take part in these negotiations, since Saudi Arabia and China have a close relationship.”
However, as a China.com columnist writes, “The participation of Chinese representatives in the meeting is regarded by some Western media as a ‘diplomatic reward’, but some analysts believe that this does not represent any change in China’s policy on the Ukrainian issue.”
Analyzing the results of the meeting, Reuters quotes the words Sun YunDirector of the China Program at the Stimson Center, that China is committed to a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, “but Beijing also knows that at this stage the West is unlikely to accept the peace initiative proposed by China… And attending the meeting only shows that (China) is ready to listen and participate in the discussion. This in no way means that China is agreeing to anything.”
According to CNN, Ukrainian officials said the conference venue was a boon for them and “completely destroyed Russia’s claim” that Ukraine “receives support only from Western countries.” In turn, according to political observers of the Chinese edition of China.com, Western diplomats express the opinion that Beijing, in general, played a constructive role in the negotiations. At a meeting in Jeddah, Chinese representatives put forward a 12-point position on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The plan was first made public in February. Journalists pose the question: is the time approaching for real peace talks? In response to this question, China.com’s political observers quote a French diplomat as saying:
“Did this meeting create the necessary conditions for such negotiations? Obviously not. It’s a long term job.”
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang WenbinChina is ready to work with the world community to continue playing a constructive role in finding a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.
Note that the Russian edition of Kommersant writes:
“According to the participants of the consultations, compared to Copenhagen, there were fewer disagreements at the meeting in Jeddah. In particular, because its members tried to be flexible.”
One of the manifestations of this “flexibility”, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing its own sources in the European Union, was that meetings in Saudi Arabia to resolve the conflict in Ukraine “reached an agreement on respect for the integrity of Ukrainian territory.” It was also decided to form working groups on key issues proposed by the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky “formulas of the world”.
“The timing of the meeting of the heads of state has not yet been determined, but it is likely that this will happen before the end of the year.” Note that no such information was found in the Russian and Chinese media. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true. It should be borne in mind that at such meetings there are also so-called. field negotiations.
Recall that representatives of about 40 states gathered in Jeddah to search for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine. So what is this meeting anyway? Another negotiation platform or something else?
Here is what a well-known Russian political scientist says Grigory Trofimchuk:
“The council of the leading countries of the world in Saudi Jeddah on the Ukrainian issue is the first obvious, demonstrative step towards the arrangement of tomorrow’s world without the participation of Russia. For this, everything was done as if unofficially: not in the capital of the country, Riyadh, not at the level of top officials and without a final declaration, which is not required in principle for meetings of this kind. The most unpleasant thing for Moscow is that this Council of Countries is not anti-Russian, that would be half the trouble, but non-Russian. And this is not “one of the many peace initiatives in Ukraine (more than 20)”, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Unfortunately, this is the first initiative of a completely different kind. And – poorly concealed displeasure at the participation of China, which, it seems, did not just formally sit at the table, but made a choice for the future. The Jeddah initiators are able to discuss the replacement of the UN, leaving the Russian Federation behind in this area as well. “It started in Jeddah.” Perhaps books with similar titles will be published in the world in 30-50 years.
No sane person expected that China would play an altruistic game with Russia. China is always aimed at obtaining preferences and tries not to play obviously losing parties. Talking about eternal friendship is one thing, but political and economic interests are another.
However, there is a legitimate fear, but do we now have players, including those in the foreign affairs agencies, who are capable of playing an adequate chess game with China? We have already lost to China the fight for a geopolitical presence in Latin America. And now some Chinese experts are ironically commenting on our African initiatives in private conversations, like, excuse me, but we are already working there. And warn against conflicts of interest.
Russia needs China now as an ally. Essential for life. Because if this chess game fails, we will definitely not be able to “reset the board” for other successful games.
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2023-08-07 14:43:00
