Side by side: Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Moscow in March. © Grigory Sysoev/Imago
Last week, Beijing acknowledged Russia's "aggression" in the Ukraine war, but now China is backpedaling.
Munich/New York/Beijing – It is only a half-sentence, but one with explosive power – at least at first glance: In a UN resolution at the end of April, 122 states declared that they "recognize the unprecedented challenges facing Europe after the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and before that against Georgia". Among the signatories of the text was China. Many observers were surprised that Beijing spoke of Moscow's "aggression" in connection with the Ukraine war.
However, this half-sentence was embedded in a multi-page resolution paper that actually deals with something other than Russia's war against its neighboring country: Rather, the text calls for the United Nations to cooperate more closely with the Council of Europe, i.e. with the organization that wants to bring the European continent closer together from Strasbourg. In the run-up to the vote, there had been discussions about whether the Ukraine war should really be mentioned in the paper – China abstained from the preliminary vote and was finally apparently able to live with the wording.
India also agreed to the resolution, although New Delhi continues to have close ties with Moscow. Only Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Nicaragua voted against the resolution; 18 countries abstained.
"China's position on the Ukraine issue has not changed"
Beijing, however, subsequently sought to stress that "China's position on the Ukraine issue has not changed," the Chinese mission to the United Nations said on Thursday (4 May) in response to a request from the South China Morning Post. Also, China's yes to the resolution had nothing to do with the phone call that state and party leader Xi Jinping had just hours before the vote with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "The 'yes' vote was a vote on the entire text of the resolution and cannot be considered as support for this paragraph," the Chinese UN mission added. Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell praised the resolution and also emphasized China's approval in a tweet.
The text of the resolution also states that peace and security must be restored "on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of each State" and that "all those responsible for violations of international law must be held accountable".
Xi Jinping: No use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine war
In his first phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the escalation of the Ukraine war over a year ago, Xi Jinping had avoided talking about a war as usual at the end of April. Instead, he used the phrase "Ukraine crisis." While Xi called for a quick diplomatic solution to the conflict, he did not condemn Russia's attack. In the Chinese summary of the conversation, the word "Russia" is even completely absent. Meanwhile, Xi referred to the twelve-point plan for Ukraine presented by his government at the beginning of the year – which, however, also refrains from condemning Russia and does not contain any demand for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
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Xi Jinping and Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin continue to maintain good relations despite the Russian attack. In March, for example, Xi flew to Moscow for a meeting with Putin; however, he turned down an invitation from Zelensky to visit Kyiv as well.
One of the few red lines that Beijing has formulated towards Russia is the use of nuclear weapons. "There are no winners in a nuclear war," Xi also said in a conversation with Zelensky. "On the nuclear issue, all parties should remain calm and restrained, keeping an eye on the future and fate of themselves and humanity as a whole, and work together to address the crisis." (sh)
