[The Epoch Times, March 21, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Li Linqing comprehensive report) After the US-China summit meeting, Russia has continuously attacked Ukraine. Ukraine spoke directly to the CCP, calling on Beijing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The CCP has encountered a bottleneck in its neutrality stance.
Kyiv calls on Beijing to condemn Moscow invasion
Yesterday (March 20) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with reporters after talks with Algerian Foreign Minister Ramallah in Tunxi, Anhui. When answering a reporter’s question on the attitude of countries around the world towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wang Yi said that all countries have the right to decide their own foreign policies independently and should not be forced to choose sides.
He also said that “when the U.N. General Assembly discusses the Ukraine issue”, Beijing and a few other countries abstained from voting “in order to give peace a chance” and “a responsible attitude.”
Current affairs commentator Wang He told The Epoch Times today (March 21) that “the CCP’s neutrality is false neutrality.” Ukraine is also well aware that the CCP’s neutrality and commitments to Ukraine are false, so Beijing’s military explicitly calls on it to condemn Moscow.
On March 19, Mykhailo Podoliak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, called on Beijing to join the West in condemning the Russian aggression. He tweeted that if Beijing “makes the right decision to support a coalition of civilized nations and condemn Russian barbarism,” it could play an important role in global security.
Podoljak’s appeal came after a large fuel and lubricant storage depot and a military camp in Ukraine were hit by Russian supersonic missiles.
Yesterday (March 20), Al Jazeera News reported that Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, claimed that the Russian side had launched a hypersonic missile into Ukraine for the first time and hit Niko for the first time. Laev is near a large fuel and lubricants storage depot in the Black Sea port.
In addition, the Russian army used rockets to attack a military camp in Nikolayev early yesterday morning, killing at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers in their sleep. The large steelmaking plant “Azovsta” in Mariupol, Ukraine, was also hit by a Russian missile on the same day (March 19).
Chinese ambassador to Ukraine: China ‘absolutely will not’ attack Ukraine
There is a reason why Podoljak made this appeal to the CCP under these circumstances. Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong claimed to the Ukrainian local government in Lviv on March 14 that China “absolutely will not” attack Ukraine, and will provide Ukraine with economic and political support.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made it clear at a regular press conference on March 17 that he supported Fan Xianrong’s statement.
Wang He pointed out that the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s claim to be neutral is very different from the Foreign Ministry’s claim to “provide economic and political support for Ukraine”! In less than a week, the CCP slapped itself in the face.
In fact, on the same day that Podoljak, the adviser to the Ukrainian President, explicitly asked the CCP to express its position, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vereshuk also made it clear that he was in conflict with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On March 18, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the United States of providing Ukraine with lethal weapons, claiming that Ukrainian civilians “need more food and sleeping bags” than machine guns and shells.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister refutes Zhao Lijian’s analysis: CCP’s neutrality can’t go on
The next day (March 19), Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vereshuk refuted Zhao Lijian’s remarks and called on Beijing to “stop supporting Russia that is bombing Ukrainian urban residential areas!”
He said in a Facebook post that Zhao Lijian’s remarks are “completely unserious and do not deserve the status of a great and respected country!” As for what the Ukrainian people need, Vereshuk suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ask the Zhou was “opinionated by 160 Chinese students transferred from Russian shelling”.
What Ukraine needs is not blankets and beds, but weapons to defend its own land, Veresuk wrote.
Wang He pointed out that the remarks of the CCP’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs went back on its word and its rebuttal by Ukraine made the “neutrality” chanted by it seem very comical.
He emphasized, “India was also neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but no one talked about India. Why? India does not have a verbal set and a back set. There are historical reasons for his close relationship with Russia. The United States and the West also understand it. It is not unreasonable to force people into difficulty. The CCP is completely different. Say one thing, do another.
“On the 18th, the U.S. hopes to use the highest-level diplomatic method to warn the CCP not to form a new ‘axis’ with Russia, otherwise there will be ‘consequences’. In fact, the CCP is playing pro-Russia Neutrality is unplayable.”
The CCP also encountered anti-war voices at home
The CCP authorities pursue a pro-Russian line, and covertly support and aid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been condemned both internationally and domestically. Experts and scholars within the CCP system disagree with the authorities and advocate cutting off from Russia.
Hu Wei, vice chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the Counselor’s Office of the State Council of the Communist Party of China, recently published an article “Possible Results of the Russian-Ukrainian War and China’s Choice” on the Chinese website of “US-China Perception Monitor”.
The article predicts the direction of the Russian-Ukrainian war, studies and judges the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the international situation, and finally points out that China’s strategic choice should not be tied to Putin and needs to be cut as soon as possible.
The article also believes that it is estimated that there is still a window period of one or two weeks. If it is delayed, China may lose room for maneuver and must make a decisive decision. This article was completed on March 5th.
Today (March 21), The New York Times reported that Liu Yawei, the editor-in-chief of Sino-US Impression, said in the report that “The Possible Result of the Russian-Ukrainian War and China’s Choice” received 300,000 hits on the Sino-US Impression website. There are millions of retweets on social platforms. On the mainland, political, academic and economic elites are dismissive of the authorities’ views.
The Central News Agency said in today’s report that although the number of people in China opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is relatively small, most of them are experts and scholars. Their “opinions carry weight” and are “still expected to influence decision-making circles,” pushing Beijing away from Russia.
Paul Haenle, former director of China affairs at the National Security Council at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, predicts that over time, Beijing will eventually distance itself from Russia.
Responsible editor: Sun Yun#