![]() She noted that Xi’s readout did not mention “war” or condemn Russia, and that Zelenskiy’s readout prominently reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to a “One China” policy (which gives a level of recognition to Beijing’s claim over Taiwan). “It also created another opportunity to convey a message for domestic consumption, shape Chinese public opinion with false claims that Europe doesn’t understand nor respect China as a great power and is ‘anti-China’, as the interview showed,” she said.įerenczy said the content of the call, according to the dual readouts, would probably do little to change European perceptions of China’s “neutrality”. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.ĭr Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an assistant professor at Taiwan National Dong Hwa University, said Lu’s comments had deepened European distrust of Beijing but “weren’t a total disaster” for Xi. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. “For practical results, China needs to put pressure on Russia to force it to leave Ukrainian territory,” he said. Poita said the call was mostly symbolic, and unlikely to lead to an end of the war. In February, Beijing had released a 12-point proposal for peace, which urged both sides to refrain from nuclear escalation and to honour human rights law, but did not consult Ukraine on it. “Therefore, China is now trying to create an opportunity for negotiations to take place with its participation, which, in its opinion, will allow it to influence their results.”ĭuring the call, Xi offered to send a delegation to Ukraine to hold talks with all parties on resolving the conflict. However, it was also possible that Xi had decided to call because “Ukraine is preparing a counteroffensive, and after it, negotiations with Russia may begin”, he said. Yurii Poita, an expert on Ukraine-China relations at the Kyiv-based Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, said he could not rule out that the call was an urgent attempt to repair Lu’s damage and “cheaply create an appearance of constructiveness”. Theresa Fallon, the director of the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies, tweeted: “We all want to see an end to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine but the timing of this comes across as damage control.” They also came as the European Union began work on its new China policy: the Financial Times reported the Lu’s comments featured prominently in preliminary discussions.īill Bishop, the author of the Sinocism newsletter, pointing to the timing, said Lu “may be in a lot of trouble, as minions should not force Xi into doing something”. Russia’s invasion has complicated Beijing’s efforts to pursue a more prominent diplomatic role as a global power, and Lu’s remarks have caused further damage. The reaction to Lu’s comments had prompted an extraordinary backing down from Chinese officials, who quickly distanced them from the official stance, saying Lu was expressing a personal opinion only, that did not represent Beijing. “Lu’s comments and the consternation it caused among the public in Europe could complicate those efforts, so a reading of events is that the timing of the call was to soothe European worries.” ![]() “Beijing is trying to bolster ties with Europe at this time, as seen in the slew of European leaders it recently hosted,” Chong said. ![]() Multiple clear opportunities for Xi to do so had passed, so the announcement surprised many, prompting speculation that it was a distraction or a corrective move. Then on Wednesday evening, Beijing and Kyiv announced that the respective leaders had spoken for the first time since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, something many – including Zelenskiy – had long been calling for because of Beijing’s influence over Moscow. “At a time when there is already significant concern about Russian ambitions and PRC support for them, Lu’s comments seemed to suggest that Beijing is open to continued, perhaps even expanded, Russian aggression,” said Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. Beijing, which counts Russia as its closest major ally, has sought to present itself as neutral and a potential peacemaker and there have been signs that Xi was unhappy with Russia’s actions, but in practice China has largely supported Russia’s stance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |