BEIJING, Feb 21 (Portal) – China is “deeply concerned” that the Ukraine conflict could spiral out of control, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday, urging certain countries to “stoke the fire” in an apparent dig at the conflict to stop United States.
Beijing, which forged a “no limits” partnership with Moscow last year, has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United States has warned of the consequences if China provides military support to Russia, which Beijing says it is not doing.
“China is deeply concerned that the Ukraine conflict will continue to escalate or even spiral out of control,” Qin said in a speech at a foreign ministry forum.
“We are calling on certain countries to stop stoking the fire immediately,” he said in comments apparently aimed at the United States, adding that they “must stop hyping ‘today Ukraine, tomorrow Taiwan.'”
“We stand firmly against any form of hegemony, against any foreign interference in China’s affairs.”
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Qin’s comments came as Russia’s TASS news agency said China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will arrive in Moscow on Tuesday and President Xi Jinping is expected to deliver a “peace speech” on Friday, the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
Also on Tuesday, China released a paper on the Global Security Initiative (GSI), Xi’s flagship security proposal that aims to uphold the principle of “indivisible security,” a concept backed by Moscow.
Russia has insisted that Western governments respect a 1999 agreement based on the principle of “indivisible security,” according to which no country can strengthen its own security at the expense of others.
During a stopover in Hungary on Monday, Wang called for a negotiated solution to the Ukraine war.
On the same day, US President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Kiev to show solidarity and pledged $500 million worth of military aid to Ukraine and additional sanctions against the Russian elite, to be fully unveiled this week.
Beijing has refrained from condemning Moscow’s operation against Ukraine or calling it an “invasion,” in line with the Kremlin, which describes the war as a “special military operation” to protect Russia’s own security.
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine sparked one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War II and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
‘LEADLY WEAPONS’
The United States cites China and Russia as the top two nation-state threats to its security. Xi has stood by Russian President Vladimir Putin and resisted Western pressure to isolate Moscow
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Saturday that the United States is very concerned that China is considering providing “deadly aid” to Russia, which he told Wang would have “serious consequences for our relationship.”
“There are several types of lethal aid that they are at least considering, including guns,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC News, adding that Washington will release more details soon.
European Union top foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday warned that China would send arms to Russia, saying it was a “red line,” echoing statements made by other European foreign ministers attending a meeting in Brussels .
Any Chinese arms supply to Russia would risk a possible escalation of the Ukraine war into a confrontation between Russia and China on the one hand and Ukraine and the US-led NATO military alliance on the other.
Beijing has repeatedly accused Washington of allowing the conflict to escalate by supplying arms to Ukraine. On Sunday, at a meeting with Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Wang said the US should “promote a political solution to the crisis rather than adding fuel to the fire.”
Reporting by Martin Pollard, Laurie Chen; writing by Bernard Orr; Edited by Shri Navaratnam
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