Beijing: China’s sugar-coated diplomatic remarks at the UN platforms pertaining to the war in Ukraine hold no value as Beijing is in fact “spitting fire” from behind by lending indirect support to Russia, chiding the West for its arms aid to Kyiv and also exploiting the situation to work in its favour economically, media reports said.
China has been two-faced when it comes to the Ukraine war. It has abstained from voting on resolutions on the issue in the United Nations Security Council, but its diplomats have regularly spoken about the situation in Ukraine.
Speaking on safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said that “legitimate security concerns” should also be taken “seriously”. It was in connection to the weapons supply to Ukraine by other countries.
Earlier as well, in September, Li Zhanshu, Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress, expressed support for Russia’s efforts to protect its interests in Ukraine during a meeting with the deputies from Russia’s State Duma, reported Geo-Politik.
China was also very keen to thank Moscow for its support on the Taiwan issue. Notably, there has been a longstanding dispute between Taiwan and China. Taiwan says it is a sovereign country, but China asserts territorial claims on the island nation.
China is also using the Ukraine war to unleash its anti-West stance. During a meeting with the Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Li indicated that the Ukraine conflict is Russia’s befitting response to ‘American provocation’.
China-Ukraine relations have gone for a toss recently. Ukrainian Embassy in Beijing organized a forum in which Ukrainian diplomats were set to promote ‘vast investment opportunities in Ukraine’.
However, in an unsurprising turn of events, on September 5, a state-backed trade expo ‘China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS)’ cancelled the forum. The forum was to be held at China National Convention Centre in Beijing, reported Geo-Politik.
The speech by Ukrainian diplomats was expected to be given at the expo aimed at advancing cooperation between Ukraine and China. However, as the event was purposefully cancelled, the Ukrainian Embassy in Beijing had to post the speech and presentation on the expo on the Chinese media platform Weibo.
In yet another instance exposing China’s doublespeak on the Ukraine conflict is the Chinese Embassy in Kyiv trying to put hurdles in the creation of the ‘Taiwan Friendship Group.’ It was a courtesy to the China-Taiwan sour relations.
The move was taken by the use of diplomatic channels and creating influence in Ukrainian political circles. In protest, Ukrainian parliamentarians rejected any intervention from representatives of other countries including China, on the issue.
To China’s distaste, on August 18, Ukrainian parliamentarian Merezhko announced the formation of the ‘Taiwan Friendship Group.’ The group comprises 15 Ukrainian parliamentarians including members of the ruling party. Beijing had earlier lodged a protest against this group at the Ukrainian Embassy in China.
China has been pressing hard to undermine the west for its defence supply to Ukraine. China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Geng Shuang, while speaking at a UNSC Meeting on Ukraine said that supplying weapons is against peace and added that it worsened the humanitarian crisis.
He pushed for diplomacy but besides that did not miss the opportunity of speaking at the UN platform about the “concerns over possibilities of weapons and ammunition falling into the wrong hands.” The diplomat said that aiding Ukraine with weapons will end up creating “security risks” in Ukraine and in the entire region.
China is also crippling the Ukrainian economy and bringing it to its knees. Ukraine is suffering massive losses due to fraud by Chinese businessmen. According to the data, these businesses are placing bogus orders for grain cargo shipped from Ukraine to ports in the Mediterranean Sea.
Because of these fake orders and bills, the dispatched ships are unable to unload their cargo at Mediterranean Sea ports. Other Chinese businessmen are exploiting the situation and purchasing these cargoes at cheap prices and selling it to Egyptian and Jordanian businessmen at high prices. This is hurting the revenue of the Ukrainian government.
