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Ukraine crisis: China accuses the United States of escalating tensions – Taiwan fears

2022-02-23T14:40:57.048Z


Ukraine crisis: China accuses the United States of escalating tensions – Taiwan fears Created: 02/23/2022, 15:26 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the video at the Munich Security Conference: No explicit support for Russia © Shen Hong/Imago/Xinhua For weeks, China has been balancing between supporting Russia and pursuing a policy that is as neutral as possible. Beijing has now criticized the


Ukraine crisis: China accuses the United States of escalating tensions – Taiwan fears

Created: 02/23/2022, 15:26

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the video at the Munich Security Conference: No explicit support for Russia © Shen Hong/Imago/Xinhua

For weeks, China has been balancing between supporting Russia and pursuing a policy that is as neutral as possible.

Beijing has now criticized the US for sanctions and arms deliveries.

Beijing/Taipei/Munich –

China has accused the US of exacerbating the situation in the Ukraine crisis with sanctions against Russia and arms deliveries to Kiev.

The US actions "raise tensions" and "create panic," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing on Wednesday (February 23).

"When someone adds fuel to the fire and blames it on others, that behavior is irresponsible and immoral."

Beijing has so far taken a cautious stance on the Ukraine conflict.

They want to stay out of it for as long as possible, despite all the verbal support from Russia.

That's what China usually does, citing its ironclad principle of non-interference in other countries' affairs.

From Beijing's point of view, however, borders are considered untouchable: This makes the long for China quite difficult.

In any case, Beijing does not want to pull together with the USA, as Hua's statements make clear again.

Ukraine conflict: tensions worry Taiwan

Tensions, meanwhile, are also worrying Taiwan.

President Tsai Ing-wen called for increased vigilance on military activities on our doorstep at a meeting of the National Security Council on the Ukraine crisis on Wednesday.

Tsai emphasized that the situations in Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different.

Still, she warned that "external forces" could use the crisis to undermine the morality of Taiwanese society.

Taiwan must protect itself from an "information war" and "misinformation".

Tsai condemned Russia's "violation of Ukrainian sovereignty" and called on all parties to the conflict to resolve the crisis "peacefully".

Although Tsai did not mention China by name, observers fear that if the West is reluctant to respond to Russia's attacks on Ukraine, China may feel emboldened to attack Taiwan.

From Taipei's point of view, the crisis is therefore in a decisive phase.

China, in turn, rejects comparisons between the Ukraine crisis and the dispute over Taiwan.

The Beijing government on Wednesday, responding to Tsai's comments, said the comparison shows a "lack of fundamental understanding of the history of the Taiwan issue."

China: Sanctions not an effective way to solve problems

On Monday, Russia recognized the independence of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine and announced that it would send Russian soldiers.

In response, US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday financial sanctions against Moscow and further arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Great Britain, the EU, Japan and Australia also decided on sanctions against Moscow.

When asked by journalists about possible Chinese punitive measures against Russia, Hua replied: "Sanctions have never been a fundamental and effective way to solve problems." China had "called on all parties to respect and give importance to each other's legitimate security concerns" and to strive for a negotiated solution, she explained.

On the role of NATO: Russia and China adopt joint declaration

At the beginning of February, Russia and China demonstrated a solidarity on security issues at a meeting of their heads of state in Beijing.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping issued a joint statement in which they called, among other things, for NATO expansion to be halted.

But there is no formal alliance between the two.

Experts see an unequal balance of power between the two countries in favor of Beijing.

Beijing later signaled that it would not support Russia's Putin if troops were sent to Ukraine.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend that the sovereignty of all nations must be respected.

"Ukraine is no exception," he said.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, China did not explicitly condemn Russia's actions, but called on all parties to the conflict to "restrain".

(ck/AFP/dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-02-23

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