China open to mediating on Ukraine

Tue, Mar 08, 2022 page4

China yesterday said that the between Beijing and Moscow was still “rock solid,”
despite international condemnation of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, as Beijing
said it was open to helping mediate （促成/ 斡旋/ 調停）peace.

China has refused to condemn its close ally Moscow after only last month touting （吹
噓）a “no limits” strategic partnership between the two countries.

“The friendship between the two peoples is rock solid, and both sides’ future cooperation
prospects are very vast,” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) told a news
briefing during the Chinese leadership’s annual political congress in Beijing.

However, he said China was “willing to work with the international community to carry
out necessary mediation, when necessary.”

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell last week
said that China should mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as Western
powers cannot fulfil the role, in an interview with Spanish daily El Mundo.

Beijing has repeatedly said it would play a “constructive role in calling for negotiations”
to resolve the crisis, but has not previously committed to joining or hosting any peace
talks.

Wang also said China would send humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

He described the China-Russia relationship as “the world’s most crucial bilateral

relationship,” which “is conducive （有益的）to world peace, stability and development.”

Wang said their informal alliance would “not brook（容許） interference by third parties,”
in a warning to the US and its Western allies who in the past few days have lobbied（游說）
China to play a more active role in mediating the conflict.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a
moment of choice for China,” pressing China to shape the actions of its Russian ally
and prove that Beijing is committed to global peace.

“No country would have a greater impact right now on Russia’s violent aggression
towards Ukraine than China,” Scott Morrison told think tank the Lowy Institute.

Analysts have speculated（推測） whether Russia’s invasion would embolden（鼓勵）

China to take similar military action toward Taiwan, but Wang said the “Taiwan issue is
fundamentally different from the Ukraine issue” and added that Taiwan will “eventually return to
the motherland’s embrace.”

“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory and the Taiwan issue is entirely
China’s internal affair,” Wang said. “The Ukraine issue is a dispute between the two
countries of Ukraine and Russia.”

Wang accused the US of going to great lengths to form blocs（陣營） to suppress

China, echoing grievances（抱怨） cited by Moscow before the invasion.

The “real goal” of the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, Wang said, was to form a version of
NATO in the region.

“The perverse（故意作對的） actions run counter to the common aspiration of the

region for peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes,” he added. “They
are doomed to fail.”