A tricky position for Beijing from the Russian invasion.
GHRTV
22-03-2022
Myriam Whaibe
China and Human Rights Researcher
Global Human Rights Defence
An important and unusual call took place in the last days between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S President Joe Biden regarding the situation in Ukraine.
A long 2-hour call took place virtually between the two of them. Surprisingly, President Jinping declared that China is not planning to send weapons to Russia and will not support the war and brutal campaign in Ukraine. He seemed very convinced with aligning with the Biden administration’s demands and relied on global peace and security as his only concern. He affirmed not wanting the violence to accelerate in any way.
Both officials declared wanting to collaborate for world peace and that “peace and security are what the international community should treasure most.”
Beijing’s position is tricky at the time because Russia had specifically requested weapons from China, which thinks that a cease-fire is what is needed at the time being. But Xi has already considered sending military aid to his allies. According to Susan Thornton, a career diplomat with deep experience in Russia and China, and the former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs for the Trump administration, tells U.S. News, Xi cannot turn around and be seen shipping weapons to Russia, after his clear statements.
In fact, this position is said not to be of Russia’s liking, as they were promised support from the Chinese authorities.
China is now studying the situation. Between supporting Russia, an economic and political ally, but without looking like they are contributing to the escalation of the Ukraine crisis and still working for world peace: it is clearly a dilemma faced by Xi.
He is trying to find “workarounds in terms of providing support in terms of field rations and medical kits.”
Sources and further readings :
Shinkman, P. (2022, March 18) “China Indicates to Biden it Won’t Send Weapons to Russia” U.S News. From
