China hits out at sanctions and criticises Nato over Ukraine war
- Beijing has said it is not arming Russia, although companies have been hit by sanctions from the EU, Britain and US
- China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun told the UN that the alliance should ‘refrain from acting as an agent of trouble instigating bloc confrontation’
Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Friday that Beijing “firmly opposed” the “unlawful sanctions” imposed on Chinese companies by the United States, Britain and the European Union, “using the Ukraine issue as an excuse”.
Zhang said the situation Europe was facing today was closely related to the eastward expansion of Nato since the end of the Cold War and, without naming Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg directly, also attacked the “head of Nato”.
He also said China wanted to play a constructive role and was working towards a political settlement.
“We encourage Nato to do some soul-searching, come out of the cage of Cold War mentality, and refrain from acting as an agent of trouble instigating bloc confrontation,” Zhang said in his most blunt criticism of the alliance yet.
“We urge the head of Nato to look at the world through an objective lens, stop sabre-rattling, and do things that are genuinely conducive to world peace.