Dharmshala, 3rd March: China’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been erratic at best. With one eye on Kyiv and the other on Taiwan, Beijing is keeping a close check on the situation in Ukraine.
China was initially hesitant to use the term invasion to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, brought up America’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan when pressed by a journalist to accept that Putin’s actions amounted to an invasion of Ukraine: ‘Did you use the word “invasion” or some other word [then]?’
China’s stance on Ukraine is weak, and it appeared that it would prefer to form an alliance with Russia. China relaxed wheat import restrictions on Russia five days earlier, and China’s Didi, a ride-hailing company, has chosen to remain in Russia even as the majority of western companies have left.
China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, appeared to soften China’s stance on 1 March, when the war in Ukraine was in full flow. He expressed sincere sorrow about the crisis over the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, saying that China was paying ‘special attention to the suffering experienced by civilians.’
Beijing’s’strategic ambiguity’ on Ukraine, according to professor Peter Braga, was aimed to stabilize China’s Russian and Ukrainian trade interests overseas while also resolving the CCP’s concerns about territorial security at home.
One thing is certain: China will be closely monitoring the developments in Ukraine. Simply and cynically, Beijing’s studious even-handedness in the confrontation is planned with Taiwan in mind.
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