Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged the international community to continue efforts to facilitate dialogue to restore peace between Russia and Ukraine and prevent a humanitarian crisis.
Wang made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing on Monday on the sidelines of the annual plenary session of the National People’s Congress.
During the session, journalists peppered Wang with questions about the conflict, with one asking whether China is worried that its refusal to condemn Russia for the attack would undermine its own international standing.
“What is needed to solve complex issues is a cool head and a rational mind – not adding fuel to the fire which only intensifies the situation,” he said.
“China believes that to resolve the current crisis, we must uphold the purposes and principles of the UN charter and respect and protect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all countries,” said Wang.
He said President Xi Jinping had earlier called his counterpart Vladimir Putin and expressed China’s desire to see peace talks between the two countries, and had received a “positive response” from the Russian leader.
The minister also dismissed any comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan – stressing that the island is a part of China and that its future lies in the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.
On Sino-US ties, Wang accused Washington of having done nothing but provoke China, despite “verbal reassurances” from Washington that it’s not looking for conflict or confrontation.
“The reality we have seen is this: the US is going to great lengths to engage in intense zero-sum competition with China. It keeps provoking China on issues concerning our core interests,” he said.
He said the US is not acting like a responsible power.
“A zero-sum game is not the right choice. In a globalised and interdependent world, how China and the US find the right way forward and manage to get along is both a new question for humanity and a formulation that must be worked out by China and the US together.”
