The crisis in Ukraine is a ‘tragedy’ that could have been avoided, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday at the annual press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress (parliament) session.
"The Ukrainian crisis is a tragedy that could have been avoided," Qin Gang said. According to him, the scale of the crisis is a sad lesson for everyone.
"The crisis in Ukraine is essentially the result of catastrophic contradictions on European security management," the Chinese foreign minister pointed out.
He also stressed that China has always been in favor of dialogue and against unilateral sanctions. The country also sought to de-escalate tensions instead of adding fuel to the fire.
China says it has not supplied weapons to Russia, blames ‘invisible hand’ behind continuing Ukraine crisis
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that China has not supplied weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine, adding that the world’s second-largest economy is being unfairly dragged into the conflict.
“China did not create the crisis. It is not a party to the crisis,” Mr Qin told reporters on Tuesday at his first press conference as foreign minister on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary meetings.
“And it has not provided weapons to either side of the conflict. Why on earth is there blame and sanctions on China? This is absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
China’s close relationship with Russia has been placed under scrutiny since the latter invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with many countries, particularly major governments in the West, urging President Xi Jinping to do more to end the war.
The United States and its allies have since imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia, including cutting banks’ access to the global financial payments system, supported by hundreds of multinational companies that have also stopped their operations in Russia.
Recently, the US has reportedly been sounding out its allies about imposing new sanctions on China, its greatest rival, if Beijing provides arms and ammunition to Russia for the war in Ukraine. The US has said that it has intelligence that Beijing plans to do so, a step that would revive Moscow’s flailing invasion.
Beijing says that this is false information. Officially, China remains unaligned in the conflict.
The US imposed sanctions against a Chinese company in January for providing satellite imagery to the Wagner mercenary group, which has played a role in the battle for eastern Ukraine. In December, the US also restricted the access of two Chinese research institutes to US technology for helping the Russian military.
Mr Qin said that China has been advocating for peace talks, but efforts “have been repeatedly undermined”.
“There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict,” he said, without naming any country, adding that the “Ukraine crisis is a tragedy that could have been avoided”.
Mr Qin urged the start of the process of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine “as soon as possible”, given that “the Ukraine crisis has come to a critical juncture”.
“Conflict, sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem,” he added. “What is needed is calmness, reason and dialogue while respecting the legitimate security concerns of all parties.”
Mr Qin also addressed the question of China’s relationship with Russia. Both parties had announced a “no limits” partnership in February 2022, ahead of Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine.
China’s friendship with Russia is not a threat to any country and will not be subjected to any interference or discord, he said.
He added that China will work with Europe to uphold multilateralism, as he maintained that friendships with the European Union and Russia are “not targeted at any third party”.
“China always makes its own judgment and decides on this position independently based on the merits of the issue between war and peace,” Mr Qin said.
Making a case for how Beijing has been trying to play a peacekeeper role in the conflict, he said: “The more unstable the world becomes, the more imperative it is for China and Russia to steadily advance their relations.
“With China and Russia working together, the world will have the driving force towards multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations and global strategic balance and stability will be better ensured.”
Mr Qin said that Russia and China’s leadership remains in close contact, guided strategically by both presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. The partnership between China and Russia “will surely grow from strength to strength”.
He however did not answer a question of whether Mr Xi will be visiting Russia after the annual sessions of the Chinese Parliament conclude next week. Mr Putin has publicly invited Mr Xi to do so.
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