Accusing China
Since the start and escalation of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, we have witnessed the height of propaganda tactics and misinformation warfare by Western media and states. Somehow, China has also been dragged into this muddle with brazen accusations regarding China having prior information of Russia’s military action in Ukraine.
The Western media is constantly holding China responsible for giving its implicit consent for Russian military operation in Ukraine. Western officials are blaming China of having prior information regarding Russia’s war plans or intentions before the action.
As per the senior Joe Biden administration officials and a European official, a Western intelligence report said that senior Chinese officials asked their Russian counterparts to delay the operation before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. once again is playing the dirty blame game by accusing China of such crudeness.
The Chinese Response
Recently, Chinese Ambassador to United States Qin Gang clarified things in a write-up titled \”Where we stand on Ukraine” published in The Washington Post. He clearly stated that “assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation. All these claims serve only the purpose of shifting blame to and slinging mud at China.”
He further added that there were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine when the Russian military operation in Ukraine started. And if China knew about this looming crisis, it would definitely have tried its best to prevent it from happening.
The question is why a country would like to support a war somewhere, when the ripples will directly affect its economy and trade?
Being the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world, the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. So it\’s utterly vindictive and baseless to blame China for such irrationality. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the situation, the U.S. is provoking with underline sinister motives while damaging and distorting China’s intentions and efforts.
Besides, China is always on the forefront when it comes to resolving conflicts through peaceful means and has played a role of mediator in many international conflict situations. During this Russia-Ukraine conflict, it again stated and called for all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis. From the very start China took an objective and impartial stance on the recent crisis.
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Image Source: CGTNTime and again China reiterated that the principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine, must be respected. Besides, it also stated that legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously.
The Lurking Cold War Consciousness of the US
The West and particularly the U.S. want China to be submissive while cooperating and complying with sanctions.
But things do not work this way; one cannot ask someone to cooperate by applying sanctions on them, whenever they wish. The U.S. administration needs to understand that it cannot dictate every other nation the way they desire. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that “China is not a party to the crisis, still less wants to be affected by the sanctions,” in a phone call with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares.
In addition, China is one of the first countries to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as a second batch of emergency humanitarian aid supplies reached Ukraine. Also, as per the Commerce Ministry, China would conduct normal trade and economic cooperation with both Russia and Ukraine based on shared principles of respect, equality and benefit.
Rather than slinging mud and wielding the baton of sanctions against China, it\’s time for the United States to cooperate with other countries at this sensitive issue.
At present, the U.S is acting like a bully, accusing and passing coercive remarks while revealing an entrenched Cold War approach of the U.S. government. This is a major reason why the U.S. is unable to achieve peace anywhere in the world as it is highly inexperienced due to this pre-determined zero-sum game mentality. The country may be highly experienced when it comes to military actions but it failed the world in attaining peace.
The article is originally published by CGTN. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of the South Asia Times.
Mariam Shah, a PhD Scholar at the National Defense University, specializes in conflict analysis, terrorism, and military psychology, employing multidisciplinary approaches to research complex societal issues.
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