China and its position: while the West condemns Russia over Ukraine, Beijing adopts a different tone

Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s envoy to the United Nations on Monday called on “all parties” to exercise restraint and avoid “fueling tensions” in Ukraine, but stopped short of condemning the Kremlin’s recognition of independence for two pro-Moscow regions in the country. East of the country.

Beijing is navigating a complex position as the crisis in Ukraine intensifies, trying to balance deepening ties with Moscow with its foreign policy practice of staunch defense of state sovereignty.

In a brief statement at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday night, China’s ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said that Beijing welcomed and encouraged all efforts for a diplomatic solution, adding that all concerns must be dealt with on an “equal basis”.

“The current situation in Ukraine is the result of many complex factors. China always takes its own position according to the merits of the matter 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 de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, which underwent a rapid turnaround when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into two Moscow-backed breakaway territories. after recognizing them as independent, a move Western officials suggest would provide a pretext for a broader invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has said for weeks that it would not invade Ukraine, and at the security council meeting it defended its actions as efforts “to protect and preserve people” living in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic (DPR and LPR). ) .

Amid mounting condemnation, Russia has sought to reach out 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 general statement declaring that there were “no limits” to the two countries’ relationship and “no ‘forbidden’ areas 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 remarks at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, suggesting that Beijing and Moscow sought to replace the rule of law with the ” government of the strongest”.

China has maintained that its interests lie in dialogue and peaceful resolution, but experts say Beijing would be wary of being seen as guilty by association and 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 United States won’t get mad and Russia won’t (neither),” said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of New York. Singapore.

He added that Beijing would want to avoid Western sanctions against Moscow’s actions and would “be careful not to give the image that they are openly supporting Russia.”

China had previously urged parties involved in the Ukraine crisis to return to the Minsk agreements, referring to agreements reached in 2014 and 2015 following conflicts in eastern Ukraine that maintain Kyiv’s control over its border with Russia. .

In remarks on Saturday while addressing the same conference in Munich, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and safeguarded.”

That puts China in an “awkward position” with regard to recent developments, according to David Sacks, a researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

“Until the last moment, China emphasized the need to return to the Minsk agreement, and Putin publicly broke it and essentially ignored China’s proposal to deal with the crisis,” he said.

Sacks said in talks out of the public eye that “there is probably a vigorous debate going on in Beijing regarding the long-term costs of aligning with Russia,” he said.

“China’s acceptance of Russia will invite further pushback from the United States and Europe that it wants to avoid.”

Though not military allies, China and Russia have been presenting an increasingly united front in the face of what they see as Western interference in their internal affairs, rejecting US-led sanctions and often voting as a bloc in the UN.

This was underlined in the February 4 joint statement, which did not mention Ukraine but saw China endorse Russia’s core demand of the West, with both sides “opposing further enlargement of NATO”.

Yu Bin, a political science professor at Ohio’s Wittenberg University and a senior fellow at the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said China shares concerns about NATO given the bloc’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific.

“Thus, there is a convergence of Russian and Chinese perceptions of the US-led alliance in both Europe and Asia as a result of (the alliance’s) increasingly proactive stance,” he said.

In the US on Monday night, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart Wang about developments in North Korea and “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” according to a brief summary from the Department. of State.

“The secretary stressed the need to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the summary said.

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry summary, Wang expressed “concern” about the situation in Ukraine. “China is worried about [la] developments in the situation in Ukraine” and “the legitimate security concerns of any country should be respected,” Wang said during the call.

“The purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be upheld,” Wang said, adding that the current situation in Ukraine is “closely related to the delay” in the implementation of the Minsk agreement.

At Monday’s security council meeting, the United States also called on countries to choose sides, with US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield saying all UN member states have a vested interest. in this crisis that is brewing.

“This is a time for collective action,” he said. “There is too much at risk for someone to sit on the fence.”