China presents its vision of a political solution to the war in Ukraine

First modification: 02/23/2023 – 10:14

By RFI correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde.

In Mandarin, it is not a “peace plan”, but a document presenting the “Chinese position on a solution to the Ukrainian crisis”. The nuance is important, because Beijing intends to make suggestions to calm the intensity of a war that does not subside, a year after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, but above all to propose its vision of the world, of the international order and of the resolution of the conflicts.

Chinese view of the conflict

Beyond the emphasis on “dialogue” and the search for a “political solution” through negotiation, China intends to play a role commensurate with its power in a possible way out of the crisis, says Zhao Tong, a researcher at the Carnegie- Beijing Tsinghua.

“The purpose of the document is to outline China’s contribution to the peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis. It is mainly aimed at Europe and countries other than the United States. It is about showing that China’s foreign policy is peaceful and presenting the image of a large, responsible and powerful country. So the document probably focuses on issues of general and essential principles in the eyes of Beijing, but I am afraid that they do not have more precise and specific contents,” the researcher says.

These great principles for a “lasting peace” have already been mentioned several times by the Chinese leadership and summarized in the “global security initiative” presented Tuesday in Beijing, which includes “respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries “, an argument in favor of Ukraine. To which the communist regime adds that “each country must take into account the reasonable security concerns of others”, an argument also defended by Russia.

“The Chinese partners shared with us their ideas about the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as their approaches to its political solution,” Sergei Lavrov said after the talks. “This is not an independent peace plan,” the Russian foreign minister said.

The document has not been published. On Tuesday, at the Munich security conference, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, declared that Wang Yi had shared with him the “key elements of the Chinese peace plan”, without having been given any written proposal. .

“Finding a Balance”

“There are significant differences of opinion between China and Western societies regarding the perception of the causes of the war in Ukraine and its nature. China believes that the main responsibility for the war in Ukraine lies with the US-led West and that After the outbreak of the conflict, the West tried to use the war to weaken Russia and achieve its geostrategic goals,” Zhao Tong details.

According to him, “for this reason, China does not want to see a total defeat of Russia in this war. China fears that if Russia withdraws in defeat, this political, economic and military pressure from the West will then focus on China, making it the next target.” In defending its interests, China tries to find a balance between two objectives: on the one hand, to stabilize and improve its relations with the West and, on the other, to maintain and even further deepen its strategic partnership with Russia.These two strategic objectives are to some extent in conflict with each other, which considerably limits the space that China can exercise in a possible mediation on the Ukrainian issue”.

Since the start of the conflict, China has displayed pro-Russian “neutrality”. The next step will be Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow in the spring to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two allies. In a year, the Chinese president has not had any direct contact, at least officially, with his Ukrainian counterpart.