China adopts cautious approach on Ukraine issue

China has expressed "concern" about the situation in Ukraine and urged “all parties to exercise restraint” while cautiously refraining from taking sides between Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk, and Luhansk as independent entities which fueled the fears that Russia may eventually invade Ukraine. 

This has posed a diplomatic dilemma for Beijing as it is trying to balance deepening ties with Moscow with its foreign policy of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Ukraine tensions which came just over two and a half weeks after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month, figured prominently in Tuesday's telephone talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It also came a day after Winter Olympics 2022 concluded on Sunday. 

The US, EU, and their allies are firmly backing Ukraine in its standoff against Russia and has announced a flurry of sanctions against Russia, but China has adopted a cautious approach as it is trying to walk a tightrope between Russia and the west. 

After the telephonic talks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said that Wang reiterated that China’s stance on the matter had not changed and that “every country’s security concern should be respected.” It said, the situation in Ukraine has much to do with the long delay in the effective implementation of the Minsk-2 agreement.” 

The Minsk agreement is a protocol signed in 2015 calling for a ceasefire in the Donbas region, and for the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, foreign forces, and mercenaries from the front lines. It provides some autonomy for the region, but with Ukrainian government control of the border. According to US State Department spokesman Ned Price, during the call, “the secretary Blinken underscored the need to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. 

“China will continue to engage all parties according to the merits of the matter itself. The situation in Ukraine is deteriorating. China once again calls on all parties to exercise restraint, appreciate the importance of implementing the principle of indivisible security, and de-escalate the situation and resolve differences through dialogue and



negotiation”, Wang said. 

On Saturday, Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference that “all countries’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity must be safeguarded”, including Ukraine.

At the Chinese Foreign Ministry media briefing on Tuesday, Spokesperson Wang Wenbin had a tough time facing a flood of questions on Putin recognizing the independence of separatist regions and whether China would recognize them as two new independent states. "The Ukraine issue has complexities of the past and present. Our position on Ukraine is consistent and clear and remains unchanged”, Wang Wenbin said. 

“China calls on all parties to peacefully resolve the dispute in accordance with the principle of the UN charter. All parties need to exercise and resolve the differences through negotiations and avoid continued escalation of the situation”. 

When reminded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres himself considered the decision of Russia to recognize two eastern Ukrainian separatist regions as independent as “violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations," Wenbin said, “China will maintain communication and response in accordance with the merits of the matter”. 

“All countries' security interests should be respected and protected”, he said, calling for restraint and avoiding escalation. “True Security should be common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable”, he said.

Asked whether China is coordinating a response to Ukraine issue among the BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), especially in the light of the bloc’s emphasis on sovereignty and territorial integrity, Wenbin said “respect for other country's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity is a basic norm in international relations” which is reflected in the UN Charter. “It is also a principled position China has been upholding”, he said. 

China will be chairing this year’s BRICS Summit. Wang Wenbin was also asked whether China sees parallels between Ukraine and Taiwan, to which he responded it is an “irrefutable historical and legal fact” that there is "only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.”