Ukraine’s ambassador to Beijing told the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday that Kiev is committed to the “one China principle,” which denies the existence of the Taiwanese state and falsely claims the sovereign nation is a province of communist China. ” he said.
Ambassador Pablo Riabikin reported: Had made The statement was made during a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing, according to a document released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ukrainian government spent the better part of two years after Russia’s territorial invasion trying to convince China, Russia’s closest ally, to switch allegiance and help Ukraine, or at least rebuild cities destroyed in the Russian attack. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to convince them to cooperate. Ukraine is an official member of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The initiative is a global debt trap scheme in which the Chinese government provides vulnerable countries with predatory loans intended to be paid for infrastructure projects by Chinese companies.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly tried to establish consistent communication with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, urging him to dissuade strongman Vladimir Putin from continuing his onslaught against Ukraine.
On the international stage, Ukraine has failed to condemn China’s widespread human rights violations, including the genocide of the majority Muslim Uyghur people and its continued occupation of East Turkestan, and has remained silent for years on China’s increasingly belligerent threats against Taiwan. I have continued to do so.
Kiev’s attempts to woo China have largely failed. President Putin visited China for the first time since being indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2023, and was given a red carpet welcome by President Xi Jinping. China has called for “peace” in Ukraine in general, but has not condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and starting the war, nor has it asked Russia to withdraw its troops.
However, Zelenskiy’s government appears to be continuing to lobby China, sending an ambassador to discuss the issue with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Chinese government, Ryavikin, the ambassador to Ukraine, Said “Ukraine attaches great importance to the development of relations with China and continues to adhere to the one-China principle.”
File/Ukrainian Prime Minister Valery Pustvoitenko and Chinese Premier Li Peng (left) inspect the honor guard during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing on December 22, 1997. Pustvoitenko arrived on a four-day official visit to China. (AFP via Getty Images)
“Ukraine is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China and promote the continued development of bilateral relations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added.
In the same exchange, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong told the ambassador, “China and Ukraine should take a long-term perspective, respect each other, and treat each other with integrity in order to promote the stable and long-term development of bilateral relations.” “I should,” he reportedly said. Although the report did not spell out exactly what would be needed, Sun said it ominously warned that “change not seen in a century is accelerating.”
of South China Morning Post I got it. The meeting took place “on the same day that China and Russia held their first talks of the year in Moscow,” a sign that China still prioritizes relations with Russia and has not formally recognized its status as a diplomatic friend. This suggests that he is unlikely to defend Ukraine regardless.
Contrary to the “one China principle,” Taiwan is a sovereign state with no political ties to China and has never been ruled by a Beijing-based regime. China enjoys a free and democratic system and independent institutions, including a military, judiciary, and bureaucracy that are completely independent of the Chinese Communist Party. However, Taiwan has struggled to gain international recognition as the Communist Party refuses to maintain diplomatic relations with countries that recognize the reality of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Currently, only 12 countries in the world recognize Taiwan. America is not among them.
Taiwan donated 27 tons of medical supplies to Ukraine in March 2022, the second month of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and donated generators to protect civilians from Russian power grid attacks in January 2023. was sent to Ukraine.
Ukraine, under the Zelenskyy government, does not maintain official relations with Taiwan, but it does admit some exchanges. Zelensky himself appeared to support Taiwan in a June 2022 statement, calling on the world to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses before a Chinese invasion occurs.
“We must not leave them at the mercy of other countries that are more powerful financially, territorially and equipped,” Zelenskiy said. washington post, generally refers to countries on the brink of extinction. “Therefore, if there is a way to resolve it diplomatically, we need to use diplomatic means. But it has to be a pre-emptive method, not something we do after the war has started.”
President Zelenskiy is even more eager to mediate the invasion of Russia and involve China in post-war reconstruction.
“It’s a very powerful state. It’s a strong economy…so it can influence Russia politically and economically. And China [also a] It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” Zelenskiy said. South China Morning Post In August 2022, he urged President Xi to speak directly to him and called on “Chinese companies” to rebuild Ukraine.
Zelenskiy had a phone conversation with Xi in April 2023, which the Ukrainian leader praised as “long and meaningful.” President Xi reportedly told President Zelenskiy that China has a “consistent and clear” will to improve relations with Ukraine, adding that “mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is the cornerstone of bilateral relations. “It is the political foundation of the country,” he said.
As a result of this meeting, China decided to dispatch a “special representative”, Li Hui, former ambassador to Russia, to tour Western Europe in order to promote China’s “peace plan” toward a “political solution” in Ukraine. Became. The plan consisted of China telling both countries to “calm down as soon as possible,” with few other details. Both Kiev and Moscow largely ignored this.
The newspaper reported that Zelenskiy is trying to persuade Xi to attend a “peace summit” he is planning to organize in Switzerland. South China Morning Post.
“We will definitely invite China to participate in the summit at the highest level, at the level of the President of the People’s Republic of China,” Ukrainian diplomatic adviser Ihor Zyokuva said. “China’s participation will be very important for us. We are cooperating with the Chinese side,” he said.
