Chinese Ambassador to Europe Fu Cong Believes “Unlimited Friendship” is Just a Figure of Speech – DW

07.04.2023

Before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to China, Fu Cong, Chinese ambassador to the European Union, accepted an exclusive interview with The New York Times about the “unlimited friendship” with Russia, why Xi Jinping didn’t talk to Zelensky, and the “Euro-China Investment Association” Several major issues such as no prospect clarify the position of the Chinese government.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) A few weeks before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began, Putin attended the Winter Olympics in Beijing and issued a joint announcement with the Chinese side in Beijing, declaring that the two countries’ friendship has no limit. A year after the war, China still has not publicly condemned the aggressor Putin.

Fu Cong said that the reason why the invasion was not condemned was because China could understand Russia’s claim to defend against NATO invasion; at the same time, the Chinese government believed that “the root cause of the war is much more complicated” than what Western leaders say.

As for the unlimited friendship with Russia, he said that this is only a kind of “rhetoric”. So far, China has not provided Russia with military assistance, nor has it recognized its annexation of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and Dunba Sri Lanka area. He said,China is not on Russia’s side in the warsome people “deliberately misinterpret this because of the claim that there is ‘no upper limit’ to a friendship or relationship”.

Over the past year, Xi Jinping has held several face-to-face and video conferences with Putin, including a visit to Moscow in March. Although Xi Jinping mentioned that he would have a telephone communication with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at an appropriate time, in fact it has not happened until today. On Thursday (April 6), von der Leyen said in Beijing,She’s totally on the side of the invaded Ukrainesupporting President Zelensky and urgingXi Jinping Communicates with Ukrainian President。

Fu Cong said, “I know people are paying attention to the matter of the head of state’s call,” “President Xi did not call Zelensky, it does not mean that China is on the side of Russia on the Ukraine issue.” It also said that Xi Jinping has a busy schedule and that lower-level contacts between the two countries have been frequent.

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken at the Munich Security Conference,First mentions US concerns about China supplying Russia with lethal weapons.The European Union, including Germany, will send China war weapons to Russiaas an insurmountable red lineIn his principled speech before his visit to China, von der Leyen even said that Beijing’s performance will determine the direction of EU-China relations.

Fu Cong pointed out that Blinken was “spreading lies.” China, he said, is not or will be providing weapons for Russia to use in Ukraine.

On the EU-China investment agreement, “China is willing to explore various options”

just 2Negotiations will be completed in 2020However, Von der Leyen’s attitude towards the “EU-China Investment Agreement”, which is currently shelved by the European Parliament, is: With the passage of time and changes in the world, the EU must re-evaluate this agreement. Fu Cong said that China is open to this.

In March 2021, the European Parliament sanctioned several officials for Chinese human rights violations in Xinjiang,China immediately announced anti-sanctions against various institutions and individuals in Europe, Since then, after 6 years of arduous negotiations, the “EU-China Investment Agreement” has interrupted the approval and voting process in the European Parliament until today. Not long ago, there were media reports that Fu Cong suggested that the two parties cancel the sanctions at the same time and start the voting process for the agreement.

When talking about this issue in an interview with The New York Times, he said, “If they feel that if China takes one step, they can take another step, then we are willing to consider and discuss, and we are happy to explore various methods.” It is reported that Fu Cong once said that China can unilaterally lift the sanctions, provided that the agreement can be successfully concluded and some form of reciprocal return can be obtained. However, von der Leyen said at a news conference after the meeting with Xi Jinping that they did not discuss this issue.

(New York Times, etc.)

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