Xi Jinping released this friday his fiercest criticism a Vladimir Putin since the war in Ukraine began. It was after the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the Asian country that the Chinese leader warned his Russian ally about the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons.
“The international community must oppose the use or threat of use of atomic weapons” in Ukraine, Xi said in a statement published by the state agency Xinhua. “The world should also fight so that these weapons cannot be used and such a war cannot be waged in order to prevent a nuclear crisis“, he added.
The Chinese leader, who a couple of weeks ago was reelected for a third mandate in the Communist Party (PCCh) congress, has abandoned the ambiguity that has marked his speech since February and has asked Germany and Europe to “play an important role in the peace making and the mediation of the negotiations”.
Scholz on his visit to China.
In September, however, Beijing already had doubts about invading Ukraine. Paradoxically, it was Putin who, on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, acknowledged that his Chinese counterpart had “questions and concerns” about the war.
Now, Beijing’s message of condemnation comes amid the escalation of Moscow’s nuclear rhetoric. just a month ago, after the illegal annexation from four Ukrainian provinces, Putin threatened to use nuclear resources to “defend Russia and its people.” And not only that: the recent – and, according to the IAEA, unfounded – accusations by the Kremlin that Ukraine has a “dirty bomb” have raised fears of a possible atomic attack by Russia.
[Putin no logra un respaldo abierto de China para apuntalar su difícil posición en Ucrania]
In this line, Scholz, who has been the first Western leader to set foot on Chinese territory after the outbreak of the pandemic almost three years ago, has ratified the tune between both leaders when considering that nuclear threats are “irresponsible and incendiary”. In addition, he took the opportunity to remember that the reason for his visit was “further develop” economic cooperation between Berlin and Beijing.
This rapprochement between Scholz and Xi has been surrounded by controversyespecially after this week the German chancellor agreed to sell a part of the strategic german port of hamburgthe third in Europe by volume of merchandise, to the Chinese company Cosco.
Scholz has been accused of prioritizing economic interests over European security concerns
Thus, the German chancellor has been accused to prioritize economic interests on European security concerns. It is exactly the same as its predecessor was criticized, Angela Merkelwith Russia, a country with which he strengthened commercial ties during the 16 years he was chancellor.
The misgivings of the G7
The leaders of the G7 (consisting of Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany) have also apparently closely followed Scholz’s journey in full escalation of tensions over Taiwan. An autonomous island that China claims as its own and threatens to invade, and that Washington has pledged to uphold.
This same Friday, the leaders of the world’s richest democracies issued a statement urging China to refrain from “threats, coercion, intimidation, or use of force” in Taiwan, according to the agency Reuters. “We strongly oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion,” the note added.
The G7 has urged China to refrain from “threats, coercion, intimidation, or use of force” in Taiwan
In recent years, Western allies have taken a tougher stance toward China. Without going any further, this summer, NATO included the Asian country as the main “challenge” in its Strategic Concept. Later, the White House underpinned the Asian giant as the “greatest threat” for your security in its National Strategy of October 2022.
[EEUU alerta: China crea “tremendas tensiones” y busca anexionar Taiwán “mucho más rápido”]
Along these lines, after this week’s G7 meeting, the United States Secretary of State, Anthony BlinkenHe said the partners were trying to coordinate responses to China’s increasingly assertive global stance.
Thus, he spoke of “the need to align our approach with the People’s Republic of China in the face of increasing coercion, and back together against Beijing’s policies and practices that distort the market, that harm workers and industries in all our countries” , said Blinken in statements collected by Reuters.
