In Moscow, China presents its vision for a “political settlement” of the war in Ukraine
The place owes nothing to chance, it was in Moscow (photo) that China presented its "peace plan" for Ukraine.
AP - Anton Novoderezhkin
Text by: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
3 mins
The place owes nothing to chance, it was in Moscow that China presented its "
peace plan
" for Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the head of Chinese diplomacy Wang Yi was received at the Kremlin where he announced "
the Chinese approach for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis
", according to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Advertisement
Read more
From our correspondent in Beijing,
In Mandarin, it is not a “peace plan”, but rather a document presenting the “
Chinese position on a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis
”
.
The nuance is important, because Beijing intends here both to make suggestions to calm the intensity of a war which does not weaken, one year after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, but above all to propose its vision of the world, international order and conflict resolution.
Chinese view of the conflict
Beyond the promotion of "
dialogue
" and the search for a "
political solution
" through negotiation, China intends to play a role commensurate with its power in a possible way out of the crisis, underlines Zhao Tong, researcher at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing.
"
The purpose of this document is to outline China's contribution to the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,"
he explains
.
It is mainly aimed at Europe and other countries than the United States.
This is to show that China's foreign policy is peaceful and to display the image of a large, responsible and powerful country.
We should therefore stick to questions of principle.
It probably contains few concrete proposals.
»
These major principles for a "lasting peace" have already been mentioned on several occasions by Chinese leaders and synthesized in
the "comprehensive security initiative" unveiled Tuesday in Beijing
, which includes in particular "
respect for the sovereignty and integrity territories
" - an argument in favor of Ukraine, while Vladimir Putin claims the annexation of five Ukrainian regions -, to which is added, according to the communist regime, the affirmation that "every country should take into account the reasonable
concerns of other in matters of security
"
-
an argument also defended by Russia.
“Junior Partner”
"
The Chinese partners shared with us their thoughts on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as on their approaches to its political settlement
,
"
Serguei Lavrov said after the talks.
“It is not a separate peace plan,”
the Russian Foreign Minister nevertheless clarified.
The document has not been published.
At the Munich security conference on Tuesday, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba said that Wang Yi had informed him of "
key elements of the Chinese peace plan
"
,
without written proposals being given to him.
Since the beginning of the conflict, China has displayed a pro-Russian “neutrality”.
"
China has found in Russia a junior partner who is not afraid to oppose the United States
"
,
recently confided a European diplomat.
The next step will be Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow in the spring to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two allies.
In a year, the Chinese president has not had direct contact, at least officially, with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Three questions to Zhao Tong
Zhao Tong is a research fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie/Tsinghua Center in Beijing.
RFI
: What might be the content of this Chinese "peace plan" for Ukraine?
Zhao Tong:
The purpose of this document is first of all to convey China's desire to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
It is mainly aimed at Europe and other countries than the United States.
This is to demonstrate that China's foreign policy is peaceful, and to display the image of a large, responsible and powerful country.
The document therefore probably focuses on issues of general and essential principles in the eyes of Beijing, but I fear that there is no more precise and specific content.
Can China really play the role of mediator as relations between Beijing and Moscow strengthen?
There are significant differences of opinion between China and Western societies regarding the perception of the causes of the war in Ukraine and its nature.
China believes that the main culprit for the war in Ukraine is the US-led West, and that after the outbreak of the conflict, the West tried to use the war to weaken Russia and achieve its geostrategic objectives.
This is why, above all, China does not want a total defeat of Russia in this war.
China fears that if Russia pulls out in defeat, this political, economic and military pressure from the West will then focus on China as the next target.
In defending its interests, China tries to strike a balance between two objectives: to
on the one hand stabilize and improve its relations with the West, and on the other hand maintain and even continue to deepen its strategic partnership with Russia.
These two strategic objectives are to some extent in conflict with each other, which severely limits the space that China can exercise in a possible mediation on the Ukrainian question.
What do you think of Antony Blinken's accusation that China is considering supplying arms to Russia?
The red line that China has set itself is to avoid a complete defeat of Russia.
If the Russian army is defeated, the political situation in Russia could become unstable, with even the possibility of the emergence of a leader close to the West.
If that were the case, instead of joining forces with China to face the common enemy they both currently face, Russia would join the side of the West.
Taking these elements into account, I think that China will have more incentive to help Russia, if the war evolves in a direction unfavorable to Moscow.
On paper, you cannot rule out that China might consider providing more substantial aid to Russia in the future.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
China
Russia
Ukraine
Diplomacy
Vladimir Poutine