Global Times (China): China calls on Europe to create an "indivisible security" mechanism together with Russia
It is not Russia that threatens the West, but NATO – Russia, writes Global Times. The author of the article blames the United States for the tragedy in Ukraine and calls on Europe to come to its senses. The EU should finally get out from under the influence of America and rethink its hostile stereotypes towards Russia, he writes.
Europe will ensure sustainable peace "when it gets rid of external interference."
Recently, China has been calling on European countries on various diplomatic platforms to create a mechanism for indivisible, sustainable, effective and balanced security. Analysts say that since the Ukrainian crisis has caused serious damage to the security of Europe, interested parties should realize that the United States, being a third-party superpower, is manipulating European security, getting the greatest benefit from it. And the EU, Russia and Ukraine are forced to pay a high price with the existing unstable and inefficient security mechanism.
China's Permanent Representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, said on Monday that the Ukrainian crisis has once again raised the question of how to ensure the stability of the international system and achieve real success on the path to universal security and development.
He made this statement at a briefing held at the UN Security Council by the acting Chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. "Peace is indivisible, and security is also indivisible. This important principle of indivisible security was first enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. In the current circumstances, this principle takes on special significance," Zhang Jun stressed.
The head of Chinese diplomacy Yang Jiechi made a similar statement on Monday, mentioning the Russian-Ukrainian conflict at a meeting with American national security adviser Jake Sullivan, which took place in Rome.
Yan said: "We must focus on the long-term perspective, actively advocate for the concept of common, comprehensive, joint and sustainable security and move towards the creation of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism in accordance with the principle of indivisible security."
Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, during a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on March 8, said that China "supports France and Germany, which advocate the formation of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism in the interests of Europe and to ensure lasting security, and also defends strategic independence. China will welcome an equal dialogue between the EU, Russia, the USA and NATO."
Such frequent appeals by China to the parties directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict show that Beijing has found the root cause of today's European tragedy and believes that it lies in the current mechanism of European security, which was established by the United States. According to Chinese analysts, NATO under the leadership of the United States occupies a dominant position, and this creates problems. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has clearly shown that because of the security mechanism built by the United States for Europe, everyone in Europe feels unprotected.
Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Studies at the People's University of China, told the Global Times on Tuesday: "The Europeans realized that the security of Europe is not in their hands. NATO's eastward expansion is led by the United States, and this position sacrifices Russia's security. In other words, the absolute security of the West makes Russia absolutely unprotected."
"Therefore, Russia decided to fight back, and the current crisis has created the refugee problem and many other problems for Europe in the field of economy and energy. Who benefits the most from this? USA. Europeans are forced to pay the American military-industrial complex for weapons. The American military presence on the continent is becoming more and more legalized. Without the resolution of Russian security problems, the situation in the EU will become increasingly risky, and in this case the American military-industrial giants will have even more customers," Wang said.
One Beijing-based international relations expert, who asked not to be named, said: "Someone may think that Russia is too aggressive, and therefore Europe needs American protection. But in fact, with this so-called protection, Europe is becoming more and more unprotected."
It is NATO that puts pressure on Russia, not Russia that threatens the West.And there is an interdependence between the EU and Russia. Therefore, if there is no US-led NATO, the EU and Russia will have a chance to form a community of a collective future, and Moscow will no longer have to spend so much money on defense. According to the expert, this is a winning situation for both the European Union and Russia.
The tragedy in Ukraine gives Europe and Russia a chance to think about creating a different security mechanism in order to prevent new conflicts on the continent. But the question is to what extent the EU can get out from under the influence of the United States, and whether Europe is capable of independently comprehending its hostile stereotypes towards Russia.
Wang Yiwei said that the United States is trying to impose a similar point of view on security to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and form an alliance like NATO there in order to create a mechanism of divisible and unstable security in Asia and do with China the same thing that they are doing with Russia in Europe.
"We do not want the tragedy that Ukraine is experiencing today to be repeated in any country. Therefore, we hope that US allies in Asia, such as South Korea, Japan and some Southeast Asian countries will be able to make wise and independent decisions in the field of security and diplomacy and will not become pawns in the American strategy of containing China on the geopolitical chessboard," this anonymous expert said. He noted that it is in China's tradition to solve problems with neighbors by diplomatic means. But if some countries make a miscalculation and mistake China's kindness for weakness, they will also have to pay dearly when China decides to take retaliatory actions.
Author: Yang Sheng
