When United States (US) President Joe Biden landed in Ukraine to meet the country's leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Monday (20/2), China's top diplomat traveled in the opposite direction, namely to Russia.
China's new Foreign Policy Adviser, Wang Yi, will arrive in Moscow, Russia, this week as part of his eight-day European tour. Wang Yi's trip to Europe and his stop in Russia were highlighted as China's diplomatic counterweight since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago.
The images of the two separate trips by the US and China take place just days before the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and underscore the geopolitical differences between the US and China, which are considered the world's two superpowers.
Meanwhile, relations between the US and China continued to deteriorate following the shooting down of a Chinese “spy balloon” that entered the airspace of Uncle Sam's country. On the other hand, China and Russia have grown closer since their leaders declared friendship a year ago, which is believed to be fueled in part by their mutual animosity towards the US.
And as the US and its allies reaffirm their support for Ukraine and increase military aid, Beijing's deepening partnership with Moscow has raised alarm, even though to Europe it presents itself as a peace negotiator.
As reported by In-Sight, at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday (18/2), Wang Yi addressed European officials as a “good friend” and touted China's commitment to peace.
“We are not adding fuel to the fire, and we are against reaping the benefits of this crisis,” said Wang Yi, after a flurry of news in China about US accusations of deliberately prolonging the war because its weapons manufacturers made huge profits.
“Some powers may not want to see peace talks materialize.” They don't care about the lives and deaths of the Ukrainian people or the losses in Europe. They may have strategic goals that are bigger than Ukraine itself. “This war must not continue,” Wang Yi said half-sarcastically.
He also urged European officials to think about what framework should be in place to bring lasting peace to Europe and what role Europe should play to realize its strategic autonomy.
Wang also announced Beijing's plans to release its proposition on a “political resolution” of the Ukraine crisis after the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.
But the vague mention of the proposal has raised some Western leaders' suspicions of China and their attitude toward its northern neighbor, aka Russia, especially its aid on the battlefield.
“We need more proof that China is not working with Russia, and we are not seeing it now,” European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told In-Sight.
