[Epoch Times, February 25, 2022](Epoch Times reporters Lin Cenxin and Luo Ya interviewed and reported) A few hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine, at a press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, A number of foreign media reporters took turns asking, does China consider Russia’s actions to be “aggression”? Will it be “denounced”? However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to stage word-play-style responses, which aroused criticism from the outside world.
Reporters took turns asking Hua Chunying to play word games
The press conference on the 24th was chaired by Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and reporters from Bloomberg, AFP, Reuters and other foreign media took turns to ask questions. Some foreign media first asked, Russia has begun to invade Ukraine, will China condemn Russia? Hua Chunying said that she would pay close attention and call for restraint.
Another reporter asked, does China believe that Russia’s actions against Ukraine are “aggression” and violate the UN Charter? In response to this issue, Hua Chunying, who emphasized that “China resolutely upholds the UN Charter” yesterday, changed her tune and said that the Ukraine issue has a very complicated historical background. She quoted the Russian Ministry of Defense as saying that this was a special military operation and would not be carried out on the city. missile attack.
A reporter asked, is it acceptable to not attack cities and only attack military facilities? Hua Chunying said that the definition of “aggression” should go back to the starting point of the situation in Ukraine, and she reiterated the complicated history of Russia and Ukraine.
A reporter asked again, does China believe that Ukraine is a sovereign state? Hua Chunying said that Ukraine is of course a sovereign country, and China and Ukraine have “friendly cooperation”; some reporters questioned that China believed that the US invaded Iraq in 2003, so why doesn’t it believe that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are being violated? “Double standard”?
There are other miscellaneous questions, such as, will China provide equipment to Russia? Will Xi Jinping Talk to Putin? Will there be a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky? Should China join the ranks of condemning Russia? Will it call on Russia to withdraw its troops? When Putin visited Beijing a few days ago, did he inform that he would invade Ukraine? Hua Chunying did not give a positive answer to the relevant questions, and most of the time, he was considering the right and left.
Some reporters will ask again, what kind of situation or what kind of actions will China condemn to Russia? Finally, a reporter asked if China “supports” Putin’s invasion of Ukraine? Related questions angered Hua Chunying, she asked the reporter why they kept chasing them, and said that she hated such questions.
Why does the CCP never recognize Russia’s “invasion”?
Feng Chongyi, a scholar in Australia and an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told The Epoch Times on the 25th that these questions asked by foreign media also pushed the CCP into a corner diplomatically. Invasion? The answer is very clear, but since the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has not made a decision at this time, Hua Chunying can’t answer it, so she has no choice but to be a rogue.”
“It can be seen that the CCP government is actually under a lot of pressure this time,” Li Hengqing, an expert on China in the United States, told The Epoch Times on the 25th that Hua Chunying was originally promoted to become an assistant minister, but this time she came back to host the press conference. It means that the high-level officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs think the situation is serious, and Hua Chunying was finally asked in a hurry, revealing her image of a diplomatic warrior.
As for the reason that makes the CCP uneasy, “Putin has tied Xi Jinping to his chariot to challenge the Western world this time.” Li Hengqing analyzed that Putin went to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, which gave Xi Jinping a lot of face. Reached more than 20 agreements with China, returned to Moscow, and prepared to play a game with the West on the Ukraine issue, but could not reach an agreement with Europe and NATO, provoked a war, and prepared for the follow-up negotiations.
“Xi Jinping was actually pulled by Putin to endorse him for launching the Ukraine war.” Li Hengqing said that this may be a situation that the CCP did not expect, which also reflects why Hua Chunying’s statement is inconsistent and logical. “The CCP is trapped now. On this chariot, it is actually very stupid, and now their senior management has realized it, but the war has been ignited, and Hua Chunying can only repair and patch for the wrong decision.”
Feng Chongyi believes that during the question-and-answer process with reporters, Hua Chunying never admitted that Russia’s actions were an invasion, showing the CCP’s shamelessness and rogue. “Its purpose is to secretly support Russia.”
He said that the world is undergoing the second “Cold War”, that is, democracies and autocratic countries have formed two camps, and the autocratic regime is facing the challenge of survival, which is also the main reason why Russia wants to attack Ukraine.
“The key is the democratization of Ukraine. Once Ukraine joins the European democratic camp, it will pose a threat to Russia, stimulate the democratic forces within Russia, and disintegrate its authoritarian rule. To this end, Putin will spare no effort to obliterate Ukraine. Irrational emotions to manipulate public opinion.” Feng Chongyi said.
The CCP’s ambiguous support for Russia may pay for the war
However, anti-war voices within Russia are also growing. Just as Russia went to war with Ukraine on the 24th and quickly took down places such as Snake Island and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, people in many cities across Russia took to the streets. Some people held up the Ukrainian flag and called for a halt to military operations. Russian police have arrested anti-war activists during several demonstrations.
As the situation in Ukraine deteriorates and the West increases sanctions, experts believe that the CCP’s continued ambiguous attitude and even secretly supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will lead to bad consequences.
Li Hengqing believes that the CCP supports Russia in order to hope that Russia will also support it in attacking Taiwan. However, the CCP is likely to misjudge the situation and obtain no benefits. “Putin is actually unwilling to fight against the West. Before the Sino-US trade war, Putin was in In the interview, it was very clear that between China and the United States, he will not choose sides, but watch tigers fight across the mountain.”
“The consequence the CCP faces is to pay for Russia’s unjust war.” Feng Chongyi said that China used foreign exchange to buy Russia’s oil, natural gas, and wheat. When the West increases sanctions on Russia, China is taking its own The economy paid for the Russian war. “Not to mention the devaluation of the ruble in the future, and China still has a lot of rubles in its hands.”
Li Hengqing added that, according to his European friends, the CCP originally hoped that the relevant purchase agreements such as natural gas and oil could be settled in RMB, but Putin refused and demanded that the settlement be settled in euros. The book was also resold.”
The situation worsens, foreign media pay close attention to the attitude of the CCP
“Judging from the current stalemate of the war, unless Russia withdraws its troops, or if the development continues, China (the CCP) must choose a side. If it chooses to stand behind Russia, it will face sanctions.” Li Hengqing said.
It is estimated that foreign media will pay close attention to the attitude of the CCP for a period of time in the future.
Feng Chongyi believes that Western countries are closely watching the CCP’s attitude, and may want to pull China to the same side to prevent Russia’s military actions, but since the dictator’s behavior is not dominated by national interests, foreign media reporters hope that the CCP will speak out and condemn Russia’s aggression. , may not get an answer, but also take this opportunity to “expose the rogues and hooligans of the CCP regime, expose their double standards and illogicality.”
Responsible editor: Fang Xiao#