BEIJING: China will dispatch a special envoy to Ukraine, Russia and other European nations from Monday, as Beijing steps up its efforts for a diplomatic resolution to Moscow’s war.
Ambassador Li Hui, special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian Affairs, will also visit Poland, France and Germany, China’s Foreign Ministry announced. Li is a former ambassador to Moscow.
“The visit of Chinese representatives to relevant countries is another manifestation of China’s commitment to facilitate dialogue, and fully demonstrates that China firmly stands on the side of peace,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in Beijing on Friday.
President Xi Jinping announced last month that China would send an envoy to Ukraine, during his first call with President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour. The Chinese leader is looking to bolster his image as a global peacemaker after coming under pressure from Western powers for failing to condemn President Vladimir Putin’s war.
The call with Zelensky came shortly after China’s ambassador to France questioned the sovereignty of other former Soviet states under international law on a French TV channel, which provoked anger from Baltic nations and others. China later removed a transcript of the remarks and said they did not represent government policy.
A European diplomat in Beijing said confirmation that the delegation was going ahead was positive, and described the visit as both a political gesture and a fact-finding mission for Beijing. He added that Poland was likely included on Li’s itinerary because it had been vocal about potential responses to the conflict.
Henry Wang Huiyao, founder of the Center for China and Globalization, described the decision to send a Chinese envoy to Ukraine as “really significant”.
“China should be actively mediating and participating so that people will take this seriously, and people will see China can play a positive role,” he said. “That’s going to improve relations with both European countries and, of course, even in the US.”
