Australia urges China to condemn war
“No country now has a greater impact on Russia’s violent aggression against Ukraine than China,” Morrison told the Lowy Institute, a foreign policy think tank based in Ukraine. “The current crisis in Europe puts China in an hour of choice,” he added.
Scott Morrison urged China to put pressure on its Russian ally and prove that it is committed to world peace and the principle of sovereignty.
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met in Beijing a few days before the start of the war in Ukraine, cementing a “borderless” friendship. Since then, China has avoided direct criticism of the war, expressed sympathy for Russia and refused to join Western sanctions.
Mr. Morrison accused Beijing of throwing Russia an “economic lifeline” by easing trade restrictions on Russian wheat imports. “Today we even hear about the possible participation of UnionPay from China in supporting the payment system in Russia,” he said.
Russian banks announced on Sunday that they are working on issuing bank cards from China’s UnionPay network in response to the decision by the giants Visa and Mastercard to suspend their operations with Russia following military intervention in Ukraine.