the president Xi Jinping said China was “hurt to see the flames of war flare up again in Europe” Beijing does not support Putin’s wild war in Ukraine.
The Communist Party leader said the situation was “deeply troubling” in a virtual meeting with the French president. Emmanuel Macron as well as Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz said today that all three countries should support the peace talks.
China was seen as taking the lead on whether a Russian invasion would spark similar territorial conflicts elsewhere, as Xi wanted to stake his claim on Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping joined Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz today in a virtual call in which they discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China was seen as taking the lead on whether a Russian invasion would spark similar territorial conflicts elsewhere.
The superpower abstained from the UN vote to condemn Russia’s actions and refused to call it an invasion.
But the sounds from Beijing seem to be increasingly critical of the war, but without overt condemnation of Putin’s barbarism.
China said today it would send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and called on France and Germany to help reduce the global impact of the crisis.
But as a sign of Xi’s alliance with Putin, he also expressed concern about the impact of sanctions on the world.
He said: “As for the impact of sanctions on global finance, energy resources, transport and supply chain stability, from the point of view of a global economy already burdened by the pandemic, it is harmful for all parties.”
The superpower abstained from the UN vote to condemn Russia’s actions and refused to call it an invasion.
China’s friendship with Russia deepened last month when Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on the same day the countries proclaimed a “borderless” strategic partnership.
About 30 percent of the oil and gas produced in Russia is now sold to China.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing is open to brokering peace and stressed that the friendship between Beijing and Moscow is still intact.
He said: “The friendship between the two peoples is as strong as a rock, and the prospects for future cooperation between the two sides are very extensive.”
China said today it would send humanitarian aid to Ukraine and called on France and Germany to help reduce the global impact of the crisis.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing is open to brokering peace and stressed that the friendship between Beijing and Moscow is still in place.
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But he said China is “ready to work with the international community to carry out the necessary mediation when needed.”
Wang also spoke with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday, according to Chinese state media.
Wang said China was “mourning” the situation in Ukraine and urged the EU to start a “sincere dialogue” with Russia on European security issues.
Last week, Borrell said in an interview with Spanish daily El Mundo that China should mediate future peace talks between Russia and Ukraine because Western powers cannot fill that role.
The Chinese Foreign Minister called the Sino-Russian relationship “the most important bilateral relationship in the world” which “promotes peace, stability and development throughout the world.”
He called the partnership commitment between China and Russia last month “clearly and unmistakably shows the world” that both countries “jointly oppose the resurgence of the Cold War mentality and the incitement of ideological confrontation.”
This month, Russian gas giant Gazprom said it had signed a contract to design a pipeline to China, a step towards a new supply deal that could ease Russia’s dependence on European buyers.
And on Sunday, Russian banks said they plan to issue cards using China’s UnionPay system after Visa and Mastercard decided to suspend operations amid unprecedented sanctions against Moscow.
Once sworn rivals in the Cold War, China and Russia have grown closer than ever since President Xi Jinping came to power almost a decade ago, driven by a shared desire to counter US power.
Wang said their informal alliance “will not tolerate third-party interference,” warning the US and its Western allies, which have lobbied China in recent days to play a more active role in mediating the conflict.
The Australian prime minister called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a moment of choice for China”, pressuring China to shape the actions of its Russian ally and prove that Beijing is committed to global peace.
“No country right now will have a greater impact on Russia’s violent aggression against Ukraine than China,” Scott Morrison told the Lowy Institute think tank.
Wang said that “the Taiwan issue is fundamentally different from the Ukrainian issue” and added that Taiwan “will eventually return to the arms of the motherland.”
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair,” Wang Yi said.
“The Ukrainian question is a dispute between two countries – Ukraine and Russia.”