THE China offered assurances to European Union yesterday Friday (1/4) that he will seek peace in Ukrainebut stressed that this would be done on its own terms, repelling the pressure for a tougher stance against Russia.
Prime Minister Li Keqiang told EU leaders that Beijing to push for peace in “its own way”while President Xi Jinping said hopes the EU will treat China with an “independent” stance on Europe’s close ties with the United States.
THE EU yesterday tried to persuade China to refuse to help Moscow face Western sanctionsduring a virtual summit in which Beijing seeks to renew its economic ties with Europe, where war is raging in Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, speaking on behalf of the Member States, spoke with Li Keqiang for at least two hours yesterday morning.
“On Ukraine, Li Keqiang said that China opposes both hot and cold wars, divisions between coalitions, and refuses to take sides.”wrote on Twitter Wang Lutong, in charge of Europe at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For the EU, the main purpose of the summit was to urge China not to overly support Russia.
The EU told Beijing during the virtual meeting with Li and Xi that it would not allow Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We call on China to help end the war in Ukraine. “China can not turn a blind eye to Russia’s violation of international law,” Michel told a news conference with von der Layen after the first EU-China summit since the December 30, 2020 summit.
“Any attempt to circumvent sanctions or provide assistance to Russia will prolong the war”he said.
China is forging closer energy, trade and security ties with Moscow, positioning itself as a world power that can stand up to the United States. Weeks before the February 24 invasion, Beijing and Moscow declared a strategic partnership “without limits.”
Li told EU leaders that China has always sought peace and promoted negotiations and is willing to continue to play a constructive role with the international community, state-run CCTV reported. CCTV also quoted Xi as commenting on an independent EU policy.
Michel noted that the two sides agreed that the war, which Russia calls a “special military operation”, threatens global security and the world economy.
China has refused to condemn Russia’s military attack on Ukraine or call it an invasion and has repeatedly criticized what it calls illegal and unilateral Western sanctions..
Michel and von der Layen described the tone of the summit as “open and honest”, while the commission president stressed that trade between two of the world’s largest economies was much larger than China’s economic ties with Russia.
More than a quarter of China’s world trade was with the European bloc and the United States last year, up from just 2.4% with Russia, an EU official said.
China’s concern
China is concerned that European countries are taking tougher foreign policy elements from Washington and has called on the EU to “exclude foreign interference” from its relations with China. In 2019, the EU switched from a mild diplomatic language to branding China a systemic adversary.
The EU, Britain and the United States have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, prompting Beijing to react in kind, freezing an already-concluded EU-China investment deal.
China has also since suspended imports from Lithuania after the Baltic EU member state allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital, angering Beijing.
The president of the European Commission said that Beijing must defend the international order that has made China the second largest economy in the world. The West says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine violates the United Nations Charter.
“It’s a defining moment because nothing will be the same as it was before the war. “Now it is a matter of taking a very clear stand to support and defend the rule-based order.”
Source: News Beast
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