‘China would have tried to stop Ukraine war if it knew’: Beijing envoy to US denies collusion with Russia

Name: US-China meeting focuses on Ukraine, Beijing’s alleged support of Russia
Uploaded: 2022-03-16T06:29:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: US-China meeting focuses on Ukraine, Beijing’s alleged support of Russia

China did not know about, acquiesce in or support the war, says Chinese ambassador Qin Gang in an opinion piece in The Washington Post

Qin moves to dispel links between Taiwan and Ukraine, saying it is a mistake to play up the risk of a conflict

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Qin Gang, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on where China stands on the Ukraine war, said conflict between Russia and Ukraine “does no good for China”. Photo: Xinhua

Amber Wang

Published: 2:29pm, 16 Mar 2022Updated: 5:49pm, 16 Mar 2022

China would have tried its best to prevent the war in Ukraine if it had known about it, said Qin Gang, Chinese ambassador to the US, in the latest statement from Beijing denying collusion with Russia over the war.

Qin made the remarks in an opinion piece he wrote for The Washington Post on Wednesday explaining China’s stance on the Ukraine crisis, two days after China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi met US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Rome.

Media reports early this month said China had prior knowledge of Russia’s military action and demanded Russia delay it until the Winter Olympics were over. A more recent report said Moscow had asked Beijing for military and financial aid in the war.

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US-China meeting focuses on Ukraine, Beijing’s alleged support of Russia

Qin said assertions that China knew about, acquiesced in or tacitly supported this war were “purely disinformation” and “serve only the purpose of shifting blame to and slinging mud at China”.

China’s foreign ministry had earlier denied such reports. Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday the US had maliciously spread disinformation targeting China and that Beijing had played a constructive part in promoting peace talks.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian addressed Qin’s article during a regular press conference on Wednesday afternoon, saying, “Russia is a sovereign country and has the right to make its own decisions, which are not necessarily related to Sino-Russian relations.”

In the article, Qin said conflict between Russia and Ukraine “does no good for China”, citing the more than 6,000 Chinese citizens who had been in Ukraine and China’s roles as the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine and as the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world.

“Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it,” Qin said.

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