China reaches out to Asian neighbours after Ukraine war causes further tensions with US

A recent flurry of diplomatic activity has seen Beijing reach out to Southeast Asia and India as it opens to benefit from concerns over sanctions on Russia

But observers warn that although this presents an opportunity to counter Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, ongoing tensions remain

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Published: 10:30pm, 3 Apr 2022Updated: 10:38am, 12 Apr 2022

With the Ukraine crisis putting further strain on China’s ties with the United States and the West as a whole, Beijing has set its eyes on mending fences with its neighbours.

China’s diplomatic frenzy in the past two weeks shows the importance of its neighbours in Beijing’s hierarchy of relations, according to observers.

On the heels of a whirlwind tour of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who travelled abroad for the first time since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Wang also chaired an Afghanistan-focused meeting attended by the foreign ministers from Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaki and the US special envoy on Afghanistan also attended the talks in Anhui province on Wednesday.

Highlighting China’s ambitions towards Afghanistan following America’s chaotic withdrawal last summer, President Xi Jinping sent a written message, pledging Beijing’s continued support for the radical Islamic group and the war-torn country, which he said stood at a “critical point of transition from chaos to order”.