Western leaders have largely dismissed a peace plan for Ukraine laid out by China’s government, arguing that Beijing does not have the international credibility to act as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
China’s government called for peace talks while urging all parties to avoid nuclear escalation and end attacks on civilians, in a statement which appeared to maintain Beijing’s stance that the west was fuelling the conflict and which analysts dismissed as anodyne.
The 12-point position paper on Ukraine was released on Friday morning, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
The paper, for which Ukraine was not consulted, was cautiously welcomed by Kyiv, but criticised by US officials and some analysts who noted the growing ties between China and Russia. On Wednesday, China’s top diplomat visited Moscow and pledged a deeper partnership.
Speaking to reporters on Friday in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said: “China doesn’t have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said China had already “taken sides” in the conflict.
The paper stated that the international community should “create conditions and platforms” for negotiations to resume, and claimed that China would continue to “play a constructive role in this regard”.
It did not offer specific steps but included strong language opposing the “threat or use” of nuclear weapons.
“Nuclear proliferation must be prevented and nuclear crisis avoided. China opposes the research, development and use of chemical and biological weapons by any country under any circumstances.”
The paper did not address its suggestions to a particular side in the conflict, instead calling for all parties to “stay rational and exercise restraint” and to “strictly abide by international humanitarian law, avoid attacking civilians or civilian facilities, protect women, children and other victims of the conflict”.
Some of the language appeared to be directed at the west. The paper warned against “expanding military blocs”, an apparent reference to Nato, and urged all parties to “avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions”, mirroring language that Beijing officials have repeatedly used to criticise US support of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s charge d’affaires to China, Zhanna Leshchynska, called the position paper “a good sign” and said she expected China to be more active in its support of her country. “We hope they also urge Russia to stop the war and withdraw its troops,” she said, adding that she did not at the moment see China as supporting Ukrainian efforts.
China’s government has presented itself as a neutral party, one capable of easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. However, it has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instead blaming the west for inflaming tensions, and some senior officials have repeatedly voiced explicit support for Russia’s aims.
This week the US government said it had intelligence suggesting Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Russia, and on Friday a report by Der Spiegel claimed Moscow was in negotiations with a Chinese company about supplying large quantities of strike drones. On Friday, Beijing also abstained – for the fourth time – from a UN vote demanding Russia withdraw from Ukraine.
Chinese officials rejected the US claims as baseless smears and have yet to comment on the Der Spiegel report.
Friday’s paper also emphasised positions Beijing has promoted in the past, including a demand for respect of national sovereignty and “territorial integrity”, and for the end of economic sanctions.
Speaking to CNN, the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, dismissed much of the paper’s contents.
“My first reaction to it is that it could stop at point one, which is to respect the sovereignty of all nations,” he said. “Ukraine wasn’t attacking Russia. Nato wasn’t attacking Russia. The United States wasn’t attacking Russia … Russia’s aims in the war were to wipe Ukraine off the map, to absorb it into Russia.”
Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the US-based German Marshall Fund, said the paper was largely a summary of its previously stated positions and statements, which were “replete with contradictions”.
“Beijing claims to support Ukraine’s sovereignty, but it has not criticised Russia’s annexations of Ukrainian territory,” Glaser said.
Glaser also noted that the last of the 12 points, which stated that China stood ready to help in post-conflict reconstruction, “sounds like China is keen to get its [state-owned enterprises] into Ukraine, both to make a profit and promote Chinese influence via commercial and economic means”.
Drew Thompson, a scholar with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and former US defence department official, said the statement lacked credibility.
“Without … specifying the need to return territory that Russia is attempting to annex, Beijing’s statement is not a plan but a statement of anodyne principals that China itself does not follow, such as opposition to economic coercion in cases of political differences,” he said.
Niva Yau, a senior researcher at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, said the paper was aimed at an audience who wanted to “stay passive” in the conflict, but could have broader ramifications in Eurasia, particularly former Soviet states that were closely following the humanitarian disaster.
China’s “cold and detached” points indicated Beijing was still siding with Russia and would not be a reliable partner to them in the future, she said.
Reuters contributed to this report
