Ukraine War: Is China Helping Russia?

EU has “reliable evidence”

Created: 03/24/2022, 04:51

By: Daniel Dillmann

China's role in the Ukraine war is increasingly coming into focus.

Beijing itself hesitates to condemn Russia's war of aggression.

• The Ukraine war* also occupies the major global powers USA* and China*.

  US President Joe Biden* calls for a clear distance between Beijing and President Vladimir Putin* in a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping*.

• Does China deliver weapons to Russia* in the Ukraine conflict*?

  This accusation is raised by a high-ranking official of the EU*.

• Pressure mounts on China after Russia's attack on Ukraine.

  But so far the leadership of the People's Republic has been reluctant to make clear commitments.

Update from Monday, March 21, 2022, 11:15 a.m.:

This ticker has ended.

+++ 10.45 a.m

.: From the People’s Republic’s point of view, China is behaving correctly in the Ukraine war.

"Time will tell that China's position is on the right side of history," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.

Beijing will continue to make independent decisions and will not bow to any foreign pressure, Wang said in a Foreign Ministry statement.

Wang remained silent on whether Beijing would provide Russia with military aid in the Ukraine war.

China is striving for a peaceful solution and rejects "the Cold War mentality," according to a statement by the government of President Xi Jinping.

Ukraine war: pressure on China is growing

+++ Update, Sunday (03/20/2022), 7.15 a.m .:

The pressure on Beijing to take a clear position in the Ukraine war is growing.

Appropriate demands are being made, particularly from circles around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called on China to condemn "Russian barbarism".

"China can become the crucial element of the global security system if it makes the right decisions now," Podolyak said.

The pro-state media in China, on the other hand, remain indifferent in their statements on the Ukraine war.

According to the news portal China Daily, Chinese President Xi Jinping is still trying to "peacefully end the Ukraine crisis".

However, the sanctions against Russia from the West continue to be rejected and punitive measures against the Kremlin are ruled out.

China's President Xi Jinping is increasingly coming into focus in the Ukraine war.

© Leo Ramirez/afp

Ukraine War: Is China Helping Russia?

EU has “reliable evidence”

+++ 4.45 p.m .:

Which side is China on in the Ukraine war?

This question was also asked by CSU party leader* Manfred Weber after the constitutive meeting of the "International Commission", as reported by br.de.

Now China has to decide “which side it is on”.

In the same breath, Weber criticized China.

It is completely unclear whether China is helping Russia in the Ukraine war, “perhaps even with arms deliveries”.

The EU recently made serious allegations against China.

A senior EU official reportedly told Politico that EU leaders had "very reliable evidence" that China was already considering providing military aid to Russia.

Ukraine War: What's going on between Russia and China?

report of discord

+++ 1.45 p.m .:

Current reports from the US news magazine CNN point to a deep rift between Russia and China due to the Ukraine war – contrary to the “reliable evidence” that the EU allegedly has for military aid from Beijing to Moscow.

There is "more and more evidence" that those in power in China do not want to be drawn into the conflict.

According to CNN, President Xi Jinping said so in his phone call with US President Joe Biden.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed last week that they "do not see themselves as a party in the [Ukraine] crisis".

Above all, the fear of sanctions against domestic companies, such as those Russia had to endure, is great in China.

Beijing dismissed the reports that it was planning to provide military support to Russia as "false information".

Ukraine war: EU has 'reliable evidence' of Chinese military aid to Russia

+++ Update, 9.53 a.m .:

The situation between the USA and China is not only tense in the Ukraine war.

Shortly before the phone call between US President Joe Biden and China's head of state Xi Jinping, warships from both countries apparently passed through the straits between mainland China and the island of Taiwan.

The de facto independent island is said to have been a topic in the conversation between the two heads of state.

This is reported by the AFP news agency.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province of the People's Republic.

A military parade in China.

(Archive image) According to the EU, there is evidence that Beijing wants to give Russia military support in the Ukraine war.

© Pang Xinglei/dpa

Ukraine War: Is China Helping Russia?

First message:

Washington DC - US President Joe Biden has warned the People's Republic of China against supporting Russia in the Ukraine war.

This was announced by the White House after a two-hour phone call between Biden and China's President Xi Jinping.

Should Beijing* decide to support Vladimir Putin in his war of aggression against Ukraine, it would have serious “consequences” for the People's Republic, it said.

However, President Joe Biden left it open what the concrete consequences would be.

He referred to the massive sanctions that the United States and its allies had imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine war.

How China's President Xi Jinping reacted to the warning is not yet known.

According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Xi only said that "interstate relations should not reach the stage of military hostilities": "Peace and security are the most valuable treasures of the international community."

Ukraine war: Pressure on China due to proximity to Russia is growing

The pressure on China to distance itself more clearly from Moscow and Russia in the Ukraine war is increasing.

NATO, the USA and the European Union (EU) have repeatedly issued warnings to those in power in Beijing.

The EU is now making serious new allegations against China.

EU leaders have "very reliable evidence" that China is already considering providing military aid to Russia.

"We are very aware of what is going on," a senior EU official told Politico on condition of anonymity.

The Financial Times also reports on the allegations and also refers to information from the leadership circles of the EU.

"We are very concerned that China is flirting with Russia," the EU official told Politico.

Three weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Beijing is still not ready to openly criticize the Kremlin.

The word “war” remains forbidden in state-controlled reporting.

But according to reports by the ARD correspondents*, the leadership in Beijing now seems to be allowing more criticism of Russia and Vladimir Putin, at least on social media.

In official statements, the government around President Xi Jinping goes on to say that although no weapons will be supplied to Russia, the partnership between the two countries is "rock-solid." (Daniel Dillmann with afp)