Beijing has signaled its support for Russia in its clash with the West over Ukraine, saying Moscow has “reasonable security concerns” that should be “taken seriously” by the United States and its counterparts. allies.
Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, also used a call with Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, to hint at his support for Russian opposition to the expansion of the NATO alliance in Europe, adding that “regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs”.
China’s top diplomat said in a videoconference meeting with Blinken on Thursday that all parties should ‘leave behind the Cold War mentality’ and use ‘balanced’ negotiations to resolve tensions over Ukraine, according to a press release from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Russia has amassed more than 106,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, raising fears that President Vladimir Putin is ready to accept an invasion. NATO has responded by strengthening its presence in Eastern member states while a number of Western powers have stepped up arms and equipment deliveries to Kyiv.
Moscow has demanded security guarantees from the West, including an insistence that Ukraine never join NATO and that the security alliance cancel deployment to states that joined after 1997.
The United States and NATO issued an official written response to Moscow on Wednesday, echoing past public statements that Russia’s key demands were unacceptable and that all countries would be free to apply for membership. ‘NATO.
Russia said the responses left “little cause for optimism”, but suggested a conversation would continue “on secondary issues”.
According to an American reading of the call with Wang, Blinken highlighted “the global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine” in the dialogue with his Chinese counterpart.
The specter of Taiwan-China relations looms as Beijing reacts to Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine and Taiwan are of historical importance to Russia and China, respectively, and some experts see Washington’s response to a Russian invasion of Ukraine as a test of how it would react to a Chinese move to annex Ukraine. self-governing island of Taiwan.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and threatens to invade if Taipei resists unification indefinitely.
Wang also called on the United States to “stop playing fire on the Taiwan issue” and “stop interfering” with the Beijing Winter Olympics, which are due to start next week.
The United States is not sending diplomatic representatives to the Games to protest China’s alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
