Andrey Kirillov — what the Chinese proposals on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine and the trip of the chief diplomat of the People's Republic of China on a European tour mean China's 12-point document on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine provoked an almost immediate reaction from the West and, in general, a broad discussion in the world.
The trip of the head of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC Central Committee), Politburo member Wang Yi to France, Italy, Hungary and Russia was also very significant. It turned out that Beijing has its own loud voice in world diplomacy, although this voice, like everything in China, has its own "Chinese specifics".
A new situation in the world and a new role for China
Since the end of World War II, when China became one of the founders of the UN and became a member of the UN Security Council (given that it was still the Republic of China, not the modern PRC), it seemed that the Asian giant was immersed in solving its internal issues or, at least, problems in relations with its neighbors — India, the USSR, Vietnam, avoiding to speak out on pressing issues of the global international agenda. Moreover, China became a co-founder of the Non-Aligned Movement, as if proclaiming: let the world powers sort out relations among themselves, and we, the peaceful peoples of the third world, will solve our own problems, mainly socio-economic development.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this niche, which is quite convenient for many "new" countries, disappeared. Now there is neither the socialist camp nor the third world, but there is a very turbulent world in which only one power claims to be the sole hegemon, which, at first glance, only one country, Russia, has decided to openly oppose.
By the way, in the Russian media, the Chinese statement initially caused a rather contradictory reaction. Some commentators, TG channels hastened to call it "empty", devoid of substantive content, any "real proposals". However, here we should immediately pay attention to the rapid and clearly negative reaction of the United States, NATO and the entire chorus of Western countries well managed by them. So, something scared them in the Chinese statement? It should also be borne in mind that before China announced its plan, chief Chinese diplomat Wang Yi visited Moscow, where he met not only with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, but also with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There is no doubt that he spoke in detail about the Chinese document, and possibly about the future prospects of its implementation in practice. It is not yet known for certain whether Wang received support and an approving nod from the Russian leadership. But at the same time, no one in official Russian circles has criticized Chinese approaches to the Ukrainian issue. Moreover, after a pause, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that China's views on security issues in the world "correspond" with the Russian approach.
At the same time, there are points in the Chinese document that, again, at first glance, Moscow is not satisfied with. An immediate ceasefire is hardly acceptable for the Russian army, which has not yet solved the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. A separate paragraph refers to the commitment to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity. But could Beijing, which for decades categorically refused to allow the possibility of Taiwan's secession as an "independent" country, interpret this situation in any other way?
However, there is currently no alternative for Moscow, since the Western plan, as if approved by the international community, looks more like a peremptory ultimatum to Russia.
After all, these are Chinese, not joint proposals with Moscow.
For peace and against nuclear war
In the document, China called dialogue and negotiations "the only way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine" and called on all parties to support Moscow and Kiev in "moving towards each other", as well as in resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible. It is emphasized that the international community should create conditions and provide a platform for the resumption of negotiations. China urged not to add fuel to the fire, to prevent further escalation and the crisis in Ukraine from getting out of control, as well as to help defuse the situation until a complete cease-fire and hostilities. First of all, this appeal is addressed to those countries that strenuously pump up the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons, accompanying their deliveries with calls for a "military victory" over Russia.
China, on the other hand, calls for abandoning the cold War mentality altogether, resisting block confrontation and taking into account the reasonable interests and security concerns of all countries. It is emphasized that the security of one country cannot be ensured at the expense of harming the security of other countries.
Beijing focuses on the fact that it is necessary to prevent a nuclear crisis. Nuclear war should not be unleashed, the use or threats of its use should be countered, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons should not be allowed. This is also a well-known position of China, which at the same time is itself a nuclear power in the "classical" sense of this definition.
Along the way, China called for ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants and other civilian nuclear facilities and preventing nuclear accidents due to the human factor.
The PRC stated that it strongly opposes the development and use of biological and chemical weapons by any country under any circumstances. And this is clearly again a direct message from the United States.
Humanitarian aspect
As for the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, China called for supporting all measures that contribute to mitigating the crisis in this area. It is noted that there is a need to increase humanitarian assistance to "relevant areas", as well as the creation of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the conflict zone. At the same time, it is not specified where these areas are located — in the Donbas or in the frontline zone of the Ukrainian side. The importance of preventing the expansion of the scale of the humanitarian crisis was emphasized, the coordinating role of the UN in sending humanitarian aid to the conflict zone was noted.
The document notes that the parties must protect women, children and "other victims of the conflict." It is also emphasized that China supports the exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine and calls for the creation of even more favorable conditions for this.
China, of course, would not be China if its document did not highlight the economic aspect of the problem. It is no secret that at one time Beijing hoped to make Ukraine a kind of hub on the new Silk Road, through which it would be possible to involve European countries, primarily Eastern and Central, in economic cooperation. But Kiev missed this "golden chance" of its own.
In its document, Beijing called for ensuring the stability of production and supply chains, even in times of crisis, to prevent the politicization of the global economy as a whole, turning it into a weapon. The crisis is a crisis, but it should not forever affect international cooperation in the fields of energy, finance, transport and food trade. And this is quite an understandable position of China as the No. 1 trading power. Beijing called for ensuring grain exports and implementing the agreement signed by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN on the transportation of grain through the Black Sea.
The document emphasizes that China opposes unilateral sanctions. As noted, they are not only unable to resolve the problem, but also create new ones. This is another anti-NATO passage.
The Chinese plan at this stage, of course, is a "framework" containing the most general approaches. Now there will be a quiet, carefully thought-out work of diplomats, who will gradually concretize, fill the original contours with real content. It is this subtle activity with the external passivity of the parties that scares Washington.
Wang Yi's trip to Europe
China, whose most important trading partners remain the EU and the United States, is doing everything possible to avoid further aggravation of the already very difficult relations with Washington and Brussels. In this situation, to put before Beijing the question of a position on the Ukrainian conflict in the "Bolshevik" spirit — "are you for the whites or for the Reds?" — hardly possible. The United States, unable to involve China in the orbit of its satellites, constantly provokes the Chinese, primarily on the Taiwan problem. Beijing does not respond to these provocations as consistently. But he does not retreat from his principled position one iota. This is the art of diplomacy, unlike wushu and other martial arts, in which the Chinese also succeeded.
At the same time, today's China does not hesitate to speak firmly not only on the Taiwan issue, but also on other burning topics, including, first of all, its right to build relations with other countries as it sees fit. This was demonstrated by Wang Yi's trip to France, Italy, Hungary and Russia. The chief Chinese diplomat also took part in the 59th Munich Security Conference, which was held on February 17-19 in the administrative center of Bavaria. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, Beijing wanted to play a positive role in ensuring peace in the international arena and, in particular, together with Moscow to protect the legitimate rights and interests of China and Russia.
"During this visit, consensus was reached on three directions," the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang Yi as saying following his trip to Russia. "Firstly, we confirmed the goals in the development of relations between China and the Russian Federation, which were determined by the heads of the two states." An understanding was reached regarding the promotion of practical cooperation between China and Russia in all spheres, it "relies on independent values and its own rules," Wang Yi added. According to the head of the chancellery, during his stay in the Russian Federation, the intensification of regular bilateral contacts was discussed. Both sides also expressed their mutual readiness to coordinate positions on such platforms of multilateral cooperation as the UN, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Washington's Attacks
At the same time, Beijing is increasingly reacting harshly to Washington's accusations of military support of the Russian Federation during the Ukrainian crisis, which it calls unsubstantiated. The Chinese side views such approaches as an attempt to undermine Russian-Chinese relations, harm the image of a peace-loving country that the PRC is so diligently creating for itself, and partly shift responsibility for the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, taking place against the background of unprecedented military support for Kiev by Washington and the NATO bloc, onto China's shoulders. At the same time, more and more political and scientific figures in China are wondering by what right the United States is trying to restrict Beijing in the supply of its own products to its allies, even if such a fact had taken place.
Wang Chenxing, a specialist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is confident that the United States and a number of other Western countries are actively using Ukrainian topics to accuse Beijing of violating anti-Russian restrictions and preventing a closer alliance between China and the Russian Federation. "Washington and other Western countries seek to link Russia and China in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, pursuing their own geopolitical goals," he notes.
The Chinese plan and Lukashenka's intuition
Today, on February 28, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Beijing on a visit. He gave an interview to the Chinese media, in which he expressed his vision of the conflict in Ukraine, by the way, not at all coinciding with the Kremlin's approaches. Regarding the end of the crisis, the Belarusian head referred not so much to a cold-blooded analysis of the situation as to his feelings.
"Now there is a unique situation (I see it and intuitively feel it) when it is possible to put an end to this conflict. There may not be another such one," Lukashenko said, answering the question of what prospects he sees for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. — We need to take advantage of this moment before Russia has fully deployed its economy and put it on a military track. A unique moment."
Will there be a joint Chinese-Belarusian initiative for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine as a result of his visit to China?
The author thanks Artem Prytkov, a TASS correspondent in Beijing, for his help in preparing the material
