China did not explicitly endorse Moscow\u2019s latest moves toward Ukraine but still recognized on Tuesday what it called Russia\u2019s legitimate security concerns, in Beijing\u2019s latest tightrope act over the crisis in Eastern Europe.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on all parties involved to \u201cexercise restraint\u201d and resolve the crisis through negotiation, in a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He still, however, referred to countries\u2019 legitimate security concerns, a nod toward Russia\u2019s assertion that Ukraine represents a threat.
\u201cThe situation in Ukraine is getting worse,\u201d he said.
Speaking at an emergency U.N. meeting Monday night, Zhang Jun, China\u2019s representative to the United Nations, urged all parties to \u201cseek reasonable solutions\u201d and address each country\u2019s concerns based on \u201cequality and mutual respect.\u201d China\u2019s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it was in communication with all \u201crelevant parties.\u201d
The comments from top Chinese diplomats \u2014 coming after the Russian commitment to deploy troops to the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Putin recognized as independent \u2014 underline Beijing\u2019s conflicted position as the Ukraine crisis unfolds against the backdrop of warming ties between Moscow and Beijing.
Beijing has long said that noninterference and respect for territorial integrity form the core of its foreign policy \u2014 principles of international law that China often cites when pushing back against criticism of its measures to exert more control in Hong Kong, Tibet or Xinjiang or its claims to the self-governed democracy of Taiwan.
For China, supporting a Russian invasion of Ukraine would harm already deteriorating ties with Western nations, but Beijing is also eager to bolster its burgeoning relationship with Moscow to counter what it sees as U.S. efforts to suppress its rise as a global power.
\u201cChina wants to preserve its ties with Moscow, abide by its principles and avoid harming relations with the United States and the European Union,\u201d said Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. \u201cNavigating this crisis may be one of the toughest diplomatic challenges that [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping has had to face.\u201d
At the start of the Winter Olympics in China, the two powers signed a joint statement pledging a strategic relationship of \u201cno limits.\u201d As the Ukraine crisis has escalated, Beijing joined Moscow in repeatedly criticizing the United States and NATO for provoking what it says are Russia\u2019s legitimate security concerns.
Significantly, Russia\u2019s latest moves toward Ukraine happened one day after the Beijing Olympics had concluded.
Still, over the weekend, Wang, the foreign minister, said the \u201csovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of any country should be respected and safeguarded,\u201d adding, \u201cUkraine is no exception.\u201d
In China, media outlets described the crisis as \u201cescalating under American provocation.\u201d A China Central Television report Tuesday on unverified footage of Russian troops in the breakaway Ukrainian enclaves reminded viewers that Moscow, as an ally, is obliged to protect the two areas. Horizon News, a social media account under Beijing News, appeared to accidentally post instructions on Ukraine coverage to its Weibo account. The message, later deleted, said that no posts unfavorable to Russia or with pro-Western content should be published.
Chinese commentator Hu Xijin, former editor of the state-run Global Times, went slightly further than his government\u2019s carefully neutral official statements, describing Russia\u2019s recognition of the breakaway regions as a measure to \u201cbreak the deadlock\u201d of the crisis. \u201cWith these concrete actions, he is showing Russia\u2019s strategic determination,\u201d Hu wrote in a blog post Tuesday.
China\u2019s embassy in Ukraine on Monday issued a warning to its citizens to \u201cavoid unstable areas\u201d but did not order an evacuation as many other countries have.
The crisis comes at a low point of U.S.-China relations, a few days before the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Shanghai Communique during President Richard M. Nixon\u2019s landmark visit, which paved the way for the normalization of relations between the two rivals \u2014 a diplomatic breakthrough made possible by the fracturing of China\u2019s relationship with the Soviet Union at the time.
\u201cChina faces quite a pickle in this situation,\u201d said Amanda Hsiao, senior China analyst at the International Crisis Group, noting Beijing\u2019s efforts to maintain solidarity with Russia without further antagonizing the United States and Europe.
\u201cBeijing will not condemn Russia\u2019s moves nor recognize Donetsk and Luhansk\u2019s independence, but it will also likely provide moral support \u2014 and perhaps a degree of financial support in the event of Western sanctions,\u201d she said.
Worsening ties with the United States make that alliance even more critical to China. When speaking with Blinken, Wang, the foreign minister, criticized the Biden administration\u2019s new Indo-Pacific strategy, in which China is deemed a top regional concern. This focus on \u201ccompetition and containment\u201d by some U.S. officials, Wang said, is \u201clikely to evolve into full-scale confrontation between China and the United States.\u201d
Local commentators stressed the balance their country has to strike. \u201cSimply put, China has to back Russia up with emotional and moral support while refraining from treading on the toes of the United States and European Union,\u201d Ming Jinwei, a popular commentator and senior editor at Xinhua News Agency wrote Tuesday in his WeChat blog.
It doesn\u2019t hurt to be moderately pro-Russian in words, he added, because in the longer run, Beijing is trying to get Russian support on Taiwan. \u201cIn the future, China will also need Russia\u2019s understanding and support when wrestling with America to solve the Taiwan issue once and for all,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China did not explicitly endorse Moscow\u2019s latest moves toward Ukraine but still recognized on Tuesday what it called Russia\u2019s legitimate security concerns, in Beijing\u2019s latest tightrope act over the crisis in Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n