China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said Beijing is willing to act as a mediator on the Ukraine crisis.
Speaking during his annual briefing with foreign media, he said China was “willing to work with the international community to carry out necessary mediation, when necessary”.
Wang Yi said it was a “blatant double standard if some respect the sovereignty of Ukraine but repeatedly harm China’s sovereignty over Taiwan”.
The foreign minister described the China-Russia relationship as “the world’s most crucial bilateral relationship”, which “is conducive to world peace, stability and development”.
China has refused to condemn its close ally Moscow after only last month touting a “no limits” strategic partnership between the two countries.
Beijing has repeatedly said it would play a “constructive role in calling for negotiations” to resolve the crisis but has not previously committed to joining or hosting any peace talks.
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China is the only friend that might help Russia blunt the impact of economic sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, but President Xi Jinping’s government is giving no sign it might be willing to risk its own access to US and European markets by doing too much.
Even if Beijing wanted to, its ability to support President Vladimir Putin by importing more Russian gas and other goods is limited.
Relations with Moscow have warmed since Xi took power in 2012, motivated by shared resentment of Washington, but their interests can conflict. While their militaries hold joint exercises, Putin is uneasy about the growing Chinese economic presence in Central Asia and Russia’s Far East.
“China-Russia relations are at the highest level in history, but the two countries are not an alliance,” said Li Xin, an international relations expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
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Xi’s government might support Putin within those limits, and Chinese companies might use the situation to pursue better deals, but will balk at openly violating sanctions and being targeted for penalties, experts said.
“China doesn’t want to get so involved that it ends up suffering as a result of its support for Russia,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist for Capital Economics.
Chinese trade with Russia rose to $146.9 billion last year, but that is less than one-tenth of China’s total $1.6 trillion in trade with the United States and EU.
“It all hinges on whether they’re willing to risk their access to Western markets to help Russia, and I don’t think they are,” said Williams. “It’s just not that big a market.”
China’s multibillion-dollar purchases of Russian gas for its energy-hungry economy have been a lifeline for Putin following trade and financial sanctions imposed in 2014 over his seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
