China’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday urged “all parties” to exercise restraint and avoid “fueling tensions” in Ukraine, but did not go so far as to condemn the Kremlin for recognizing the independence of the two pro-Moscow regions in the east of the country..
Beijing is navigating a complex position as the crisis in Ukraine intensifies, trying to balance between deepening ties with Moscow and its practiced foreign policy of firmly defending state sovereignty.
In a brief statement at the emergency UN Security Council meeting on Monday night, China’s ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said Beijing welcomed and encouraged all efforts towards a diplomatic solution, adding that all concerns should be treated on an “equality basis”.
“The current situation in Ukraine is the result of many complex factors. China always positions itself according to the merits of the issue itself. We believe that all countries should resolve international disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” Zhang said.
The security council meeting comes as world leaders desperately try to demobilize the situation in Ukraine, which saw rapid change when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into two Moscow-backed separatist territories after recognizing them. as independents – a move that Western officials suggest would be a pretext for a wider invasion of Ukraine.
Russia said weeks ago that it would not invade Ukraine and, at the security council meeting, defended its actions as efforts “to protect and preserve these people” who live in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk (DPR and RPL). ).
Amid mounting condemnation, Russia has sought to get closer to China, with Putin traveling to Beijing on February 4 to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of the Winter Olympics. The summit ended with the release of a comprehensive communiqué that declared that there were “no limits” to the two countries’ relationship and that there was “no ‘no-go’ area of cooperation.”
The show of solidarity has not gone unnoticed in the West. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen referred to Xi and Putin’s recent joint statement in strong-word comments at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, suggesting that Beijing and Moscow sought to replace the rule of law with the rule of law. “government of the strongest”.
China has maintained that its interests lie in dialogue and peaceful resolution, but experts say Beijing fears being seen as guilty by association and would now seek to walk a tightrope.
“They don’t want to get involved and they don’t want to make a very strong statement, (that way) the US won’t be angry and Russia won’t be angry (either),” said Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore.
He added that Beijing would like to avoid Western sanctions targeting Moscow’s actions and “would be careful not to get the image that it is openly supporting Russia.”
China has previously urged parties involved in the Ukraine crisis to return to the Minsk accords, referring to agreements reached in 2014 and 2015 following conflicts in eastern Ukraine that maintain Kiev’s control over its border with Russia.
In remarks on Saturday, while addressing the same conference in Munich, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and safeguarded”.
According to David Sacks, a researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, this puts China in an “embarrassing position” in relation to recent developments.
“Until the last moment, China emphasized the need to return to the Minsk agreement, and Putin publicly tore it up and ignored China’s proposal to deal with the crisis,” he said.
Sacks said that in non-public conversations “there is probably a vigorous debate going on in Beijing about the long-term costs of aligning with Russia,” he said.
“China’s adoption of Russia will generate another reaction from the United States and Europe that it wants to avoid.”
While not military allies, China and Russia have presented an increasingly united front in the face of what they see as Western interference in their domestic affairs, delaying US-led sanctions and often voting as a bloc at the UN.
This was underlined in the February 4 joint statement, which did not mention Ukraine but saw China supporting Russia’s core demand to the West, with both sides “opposing further NATO enlargement”.
Yu Bin, a professor of political science at Ohio’s Wittenberg University and a senior fellow at the Center for Russian Studies at the East China Normal University in Shanghai, said China shares concerns with NATO given the bloc’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific.
“There is therefore a convergence of Russian and Chinese perceptions of the US-led alliance in Europe and Asia as a result of (the alliance’s) increasingly proactive stance,” he said.
On Monday night in the US, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart Wang about developments in North Korea and “Russia’s attack on Ukraine”, according to a brief State Department report. .
“The secretary stressed the need to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the minutes read.
According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry minutes, Wang expressed “concern” about the situation in Ukraine. “China is concerned about the evolving situation in Ukraine” and that “legitimate security concerns of any country must be respected,” Wang said during the call.
“The purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be maintained,” Wang said, adding that the current situation in Ukraine is “closely related to the delay” in implementing the Minsk agreement.
The United States, at Monday’s security council meeting, also urged countries to choose a side, with US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield saying all UN member states have a stake in this crisis. growing. “This is a moment of collective action,” she said. “There’s a lot at stake for someone to be on the fence.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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