FROMHina is definitely among the nations that the whole world expected to side with Russia in this conflict against Ukraine. Both are considered communist states, and both are ruled by authoritarian regimes. There was no response from China until Thursday evening, when reporters pressed Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying for their position on the conflict. She was bluntly asked if she was ready to consider the Russian attacks an invasion, but she constantly tried to evade the answer “yes” or “no”. In fact, Hua seemed to be fed up with so many questions on the same topic, and he was getting more and more frustrated. When the official translations from Chinese to English appeared, it became clear that Hua wanted to shift the blame to United States.
Here is a direct translation of what she told the media after so many requests to call Russia’s actions an invasion: “The US is fueling the flames, fanning the flames, how do they want to put out the fire?” China is closely following the development of the situation. What you see today is not what we would like to see. We hope that all parties can return to dialogue and negotiations.” But the accusations and ideas about NATO or the US role in this conflict didn’t stop there.
China indirectly blames NATO and the US.
Earlier at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Beijing, Nuclear Policy Program Senior Fellow Tong Zhao spoke about what China really thinks about NATO and the role of the United States in this conflict. “China clearly sympathizes with Russian views,” he said. “China believes that it was NATO expansion and other threats from the US and NATO that ultimately motivated Russia to protect its legitimate interests. In other words, I think that China feels that Russia feels that it is being forced to do what it is doing. having received widespread international condemnation and criticism, I think China wants to avoid being seen as part of this axis. When it comes to public statements, China has been very cautious. It is difficult for China to openly support such behavior by Russia, given its implications for China’s own security and China’s relationship with Taiwan.”