Posted 2 years ago
China's Foreign Ministry on Friday stressed that Beijing believes the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries" should be respected — a principle that "applies equally to Ukraine." China's Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying however blamed the US for Russia's invasion saying: "China has taken a responsible attitude and persuaded all parties not to escalate tensions or incite war...Those who follow the US' lead in fanning up flames and then shifting the blame onto others are truly irresponsible. Did it ever think about the consequences of pushing a big country to the wall?"
The duality of the statements highlights the complex math Chica faces in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Beijing isn’t cheering on a land war in Europe; for China, the war and its fallout could divert U.S. attention away from China.
“When China looks at Ukraine, it thinks about U.S.-China relations, so what [Putin] does is a very useful distraction for the U.S. strategic pressure on China in the Pacific, particularly given that the U.S. just announced its Indo-Pacific strategy,” said Yun Sun, China program director at the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
“China is now seen as the U.S.’ biggest [strategic] problem, and China is desperate to either mitigate the strategic pressure the U.S. can apply … or find more strategic leverage to counterbalance [it],” Sun added.
Topic: World News
Tags: Russia Ukraine Russia-Ukraine War BRIC China