Beijing The Chinese government sees itself in a difficult situation in the Ukraine war. On the one hand she wants to support Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, but on the other hand she doesn’t want to alienate the West and above all the US government too much or act as a warmonger. The most important questions and answers about the role of China in the Ukraine war.
China stands with Russia. That has been clear at least since the demonstrative closing ranks between Chinese head of state and party leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing at the beginning of February. In a joint statement, they assured themselves that the friendship between the two countries had “no limits”.
So far, the Chinese leadership has mainly supported the Russian regime verbally on the international stage. In this way, she avoids naming the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine as such. In addition, the Chinese leadership endorses the Kremlin’s argument that the Russian leadership rightly feels threatened and accuses the US of fueling the conflict.
At the same time, China is trying to be neutral and is appealing “to all sides” to find a peaceful solution. China supports Russia and Ukraine in solving the crisis through negotiations, China’s head of state and party leader Xi was quoted as saying by the state news agency Xinhua after a phone call with Russian President Putin on Friday.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Also on Friday, China made it clear that it had no interest in the escalation. “China has been following the development of the Ukraine issue, and the current situation is something China does not want to see,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with top diplomats from Britain, France and the European Union, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.
In the vote in the UN Security Council on Friday, however, China again joined Russia and abstained. China also spoke out against EU and US sanctions against Russia.
More on the Ukraine war:
3. Is China Helping Russia Bypass Sanctions?
So far, China has apparently not supported Russia directly in overturning the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU. China has not yet appeared to be helping Russia circumvent Western financial sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official was quoted by Reuters as saying on Saturday.
At the same time, he issued a warning: Such an approach would seriously damage China’s reputation, according to the US executive. At least two of China’s largest state-owned banks cut funding for purchases of Russian commodities, financial news agency Bloomberg reported on Friday.
However, there is also much to suggest that Beijing is initially waiting to see how the situation develops. In addition, China had already initiated measures to support the Russian economy at the beginning of February, including new contracts for the supply of Russian natural gas.
On the day of the invasion, Chinese customs also announced that they would accept Russian wheat imports. Condition: The wheat must come from areas free from a specific disease. And it may only be used for processing purposes.
Experts consider China’s options to completely cushion punitive measures against Russia to be fundamentally limited. “A closer trade relationship with China could provide some help to Russia in the event of US and EU sanctions, but is unlikely to fully offset the impact of increasing decoupling from the EU,” says an analysis by French investment bank Natixis.
This applies in particular to energy exports and the import of pharmaceutical products. “Basically, Russia’s turn to China cannot offer an immediate solution to Russian trade, although it may increasingly do so over the longer term,” the analysts said.
4. Did China’s leadership know about Putin’s Ukraine plan?
There are several indications that the Chinese authorities have not been informed of the impending Russian invasion. The New York Times reports that at half a dozen meetings with senior Chinese officials in the three months leading up to the attack, senior US government officials presented intelligence showing Russia’s troop surge around Ukraine.
The report goes on to say that they pleaded with China to stop Russia from invading. Each time, however, Chinese officials, including the Secretary of State and the Ambassador to the United States, have rebuffed the Americans, saying they do not believe an invasion is being planned.
I don’t think Xi Jinping has been fully briefed on the forthcoming developments. Mikko Huotari, head of the Berlin China think tank Merics
The initial confusion in the communication of the Chinese government after the attack also suggests that China was not prepared for it. “I don’t think Xi Jinping was fully briefed on the forthcoming developments,” says Mikko Huotari, head of the Berlin China think tank Merics.
The “South China Morning Post” also reports, with reference to the Chinese ambassador in Kiev, that there are still 6,000 Chinese in Ukraine who were apparently surprised by the attack. They are now stuck because an evacuation is too dangerous under the current conditions may be.
5. Should Taiwan now fear that China will follow Russia and launch an invasion of the island nation?
Experts believe that China is watching very closely how the western world reacts to the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine and will draw limited conclusions for a possible invasion of Taiwan. However, many believe it is unlikely that Beijing will use the unrest to attack Taiwan itself at this time.
“Their own assessment of the situation will be based 95 percent on their capacity and ability to win a war with Taiwan,” says Merics China expert Huotari. “And what they’re going to do is look at their own capabilities compared to the US, maybe Japan, but mostly to Taiwan in this scenario.”
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China and wants a “reunification” of the two territories. Taiwan was never part of the People’s Republic of China, which was founded in 1949. In recent years, fears have grown that China could one day take over the country by force.
In addition to the experts, the majority of Taiwanese do not believe that Chinese troops are imminent. In a survey by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) in mid-February, 63 percent of Taiwanese said they believe that aggressive action by Russia against Ukraine will not lead to a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
More: The US looks to Ukraine – China’s chance?