"China was aware of Russia's war plans... Requested to postpone the Olympics until the end of the Olympics"

It is reported that China was aware of Russia's plans to invade Ukraine in advance and that it was understood that it had requested Russia to delay the invasion until the Olympics were over.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 2nd local time that it had received information that a high-ranking official of the Chinese government had made such a request to the Russian government in early February, citing officials from US and European intelligence agencies.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing on the 4th of last month, the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and held a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping and issued a joint statement calling for the suspension of NATO expansion.

The New York Times did not confirm whether Putin and Xi had talks about plans to invade Ukraine, but the information that high-ranking Chinese and Russian officials exchanged views on the invasion of Ukraine is fairly reliable. It was said that it was a message from the officials of the authorities.

Coincidentally, President Putin ordered Russian troops to enter eastern Ukraine on the 21st of last month, the day after the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and then invaded Ukraine in earnest on the morning of the 24th.

So, the New York Times stressed that it seems clear that China was aware of Russia's plans for aggression in advance.

"These allegations are baseless speculation and are intended to criticize China and damage its image," said Liu Pengyu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States.

China has previously rejected a request from the US government to help prevent an invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, since the end of last year, the U.S. has offered detailed information that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine, asking Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ambassador Chin Kang to join the war prevention efforts. known.

China is also showing implicit support for war by abstaining from voting at the United Nations headquarters in the United States on the 2nd local time to condemn the Russian invasion and to call for the withdrawal of troops.