Status: 04/02/2022 12:26 p.m
China has stood firmly with Russia since the beginning of the war. Beijing has now positioned itself on the sanctions against Moscow. You don’t want to bypass them. The EU had previously threatened economic consequences.
So far, China has not condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. China is also not participating in the western sanctions against Russia. Instead, it is feared that the Chinese leadership will circumvent the punitive measures – and thereby support Russia.
The Chinese government has now explicitly denied this allegation for the first time. “We are not doing anything intentionally to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia by the Americans and Europeans,” director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Affairs, Wang Lutong, said in Beijing.
Nevertheless, he criticized the punitive measures against Russia. “We are against sanctions and the effects could spill over to the rest of the world as well,” Wang said. He demanded that China’s normal trade with Moscow “should not be affected”. For the benefit of the global economy, it must be a matter of “avoiding a possible interruption in the supply and industrial chains.”
Against the “hegemony” of the USA
Russia and China have recently repeatedly emphasized their close partnership. During a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to China on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that “Sino-Russian cooperation” is “boundless”. Relations developed in “the right direction”. Both opposed US “hegemony”.
Now, however, Wang downplayed China’s role. “The key to this problem is not in the hands of China, but in Washington and Brussels,” he said. It’s about European security and “it’s up to the Europeans to sort things out.”
At the same time, he suggested that US President Joe Biden should call Russian President Vladimir Putin and promise that there would be no further NATO enlargement and no strategic weapons stationing in Ukraine, and that the country would remain neutral. Then “the problem” might be cleared up, according to Wang. “What is the goal of the Americans? Do they want to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine or do they want to weaken Russia? Or are some people talking about a change of government?” Wang said, referring to Biden’s comment that Putin should not remain in office. “If they want a truce, this problem could be solved very easily.”
Little harmony at the EU-China summit
Wang’s comments followed yesterday’s talks between Chinese and EU leaders, which saw opposing views clashed head-on. Beijing reiterated its opposition to economic sanctions against Russia. EU top officials warned China not to back Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping also blamed the Europeans for the conflict. The root cause of the Ukraine crisis is “the regional security tensions in Europe that have built up over the years,” Xi said – and warned against “pouring fuel on the fire and heating up tensions”.
At the same time, the Chinese head of state was also concerned about China’s economic interests in the world. The regional conflict must not expand, he said. The world should not be “held hostage” and the global economic system should not be “disrupted at will” or used “as a weapon”.
EU threatens economic consequences
Aware of concerns about China’s economic interests, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to have indirect consequences for the close economic relations. “It is clear that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not only a defining moment for our continent, but also for our relationship with the rest of the world,” von der Leyen said. According to EU Council President Charles Michel, the close economic ties with China could be called into question if Beijing does not distance itself more clearly from Russia.
The EU is currently by far China’s most important trading partner. In contrast, Russia does not even appear in the list of China’s ten most important trading partners. Instead, the USA is in second place after the EU, and has already threatened China with sanctions if Russia provides clear material support. Punitive measures are to be imposed in particular if Chinese companies or banks circumvent US sanctions against Russia.