On Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Russia his country’s “most important strategic partner” as Beijing continues its refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite growing pressure from the United States (US) and the European Union (EU).
Addressing the importance of the Beijing-Moscow relationship, Wang said that it constitutes “one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world.” “No matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of a comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era. The friendship between the two peoples is ironclad,” Wang stated during a press conference along the sidelines of the Chinese parliament’s annual meeting.
Despite this open show of support for its ally, China has attempted to walk the diplomatic tightrope between Russia and Ukraine. Refusing to condemn the invasion of the eastern European country, Wang said the causes of the “Ukraine situation” are “complex” and that solving it needed “calmness and rationality, rather than adding fuel to the fire and intensifying contradictions.” He further assured that China had already done “some work” to promote peace talks and continues to remain in contact with all sides. Furthermore, the FM announced on the same day that China’s Red Cross will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine “as soon as possible.”
I spoke with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi about Moscow’s unjustified ongoing attack against Ukraine. The world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of sovereignty, as Moscow pays a high price for its unconscionable actions.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 5, 2022
Apart from refraining from sanctioning Russia or taking other direct action, Beijing has further blamed Washington for the conflict, pointing to its refusal to take Russia’s security concerns into consideration.
In a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, Blinken criticised Moscow’s “premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine.” However, countering the claim, Wang replied that the US, EU, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must “engage in equal-footed dialogue with Russia, pay attention to the negative impact of NATO’s continuous eastward expansion on Russia’s security, and seek to build a sustainable European security mechanism in accordance with the principle of indivisible security.”
Following the FM’s lead, during his regular press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also accused the US of “spreading disinformation and smearing China with the Ukraine issue.”
“Spreading disinformation cannot help the US shift its responsibility. Instead, it only exposes its real motive of exploiting the crisis to its benefit. [The US] claimed to defend peace by working on NATO’s eastward expansion. Is peace achieved? It said it were to prevent war in Europe. Is war averted? It advertised its commitment to a peaceful settlement of the crisis. But from providing military aid to beefing up military deterrence, did it do anything good for peace?” he retorted.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine continues to intensify, leading to scarcity of food, water, and medicine. Both sides also held what has been described as an unfruitful third round of negotiations on Monday.