Chinese foreign minister rejects calls for Russia to be kicked out of G20

Wang Yi tells his Indonesian counterpart that no one has the power to divide the bloc and it ‘should not be politicised’
There have been calls for Moscow to be expelled from the grouping as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine war

Liu Zhen

Published: 7:21pm, 1 Apr 2022

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has rejected calls for Russia to be expelled from the Group of 20, saying the bloc should not be split.

“No one has the power to divide the G20,” Wang said in a meeting with visiting Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Thursday, according to the Chinese foreign ministry readout.

Indonesia currently holds the rotating chair of the G20, a key forum for cooperation among the world’s largest economies.

Wang said the bloc should focus on macroeconomic policy coordination and “should not be politicised”.

It came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for talks on whether Russia should be excluded from the grouping as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. Kicking out Russia would require unanimous consensus from all member states.

China has also criticised Western sanctions against close ally Russia, and has refused to condemn Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly still wants to attend the G20 summit in October. Photo: AFP

This year’s G20 summit is to be held in Bali, Indonesia in October. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly still wants to attend, but that could cause other leaders to boycott the event. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said the US does not believe it can be “business as usual” for Russia in international organisations like the G20 after its invasion of Ukraine.

During Thursday’s talks, Wang said China “firmly supports” the Bali summit and strengthening cooperation in the G20.

Wang and Marsudi also agreed to work on a plan to connect Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative with the key areas of cooperation under the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, according to the Chinese readout.

Wang said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations initiative was “very different from the US Indo-Pacific strategy, which aims to stir up rivalries and regional tensions”.

“All parties should be vigilant and prevent the return of Cold War thinking in the region,” Wang said, adding that Beijing supported an Asean-based regional cooperation structure.

Marsudi, who was involved in drafting the Asean document, said it had from the beginning been focused on the economy and development, and was committed to mutually beneficial regional cooperation and the common interests of countries in the region.

The foreign ministers also exchanged views on Ukraine but no details were given in the Chinese readout.

Marsudi has previously said on Ukraine that international law must be upheld and territorial integrity must be respected consistently.

The foreign ministers met in the ancient town of Tunxi, in Anhui province, where Wang has been hosting multinational meetings on the economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August.

Wang met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday, telling him Beijing supported a continuation of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. They had a “thorough exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine” and hit out at Western sanctions, according to a statement from Russia’s foreign ministry.

Weeks before the Russian invasion, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had declared that their nations’ partnership had “no limits” and signed a series of cooperation deals in Beijing.