My Take | Ukraine is the West’s fight, not China’s
- Beijing will abide by its fundamental diplomatic principles of non-interference and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity by not recognising the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk
Rather absurdly, they also expect China to join their fight. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent the following tweet: “I spoke with the People’s Republic of China State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. I underscored the need to preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
It was a reference to an earlier statement that Wang made about safeguarding “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of every country” and that “Ukraine is no exception”.
Somehow, the narrative is that China is breaching its own stated diplomatic principles by not joining the Western chorus of denunciation and sanctions. But it is not China’s fight, any more than it is, say, Singapore’s or Malaysia’s.
After all the nasty fights Washington and its allies have started against China in recent years, you could hardly expect Beijing to play the Western game. And Russia is now “better than an ally”, as they say. Moscow’s Ukrainian moves are no doubt a provocation, but that’s a fight between two former Cold War enemies.