Xi Jinping is determined to portray himself, especially in the global south, as the responsible leader of a great world power. And he still hopes to drive a wedge between America and Europe
Chinese officials have told foreign counterparts that the time is not right to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Neither is interested, the officials argued, as each hopes to gain ground in the coming months. Likewise, the officials suggested it was too early for China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to speak to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
So what explains China’s change of heart? Russia and Ukraine are no closer to peace talks. Nor has the battlefield shifted much. But the call follows a period of intense diplomacy focused on China’s approach to Ukraine. And it comes just a few days after China’s ambassador to France caused a diplomatic furore when he questioned the sovereignty of ex-Soviet states.
China denies any such plans and rejects all criticism of its relations with Russia. But Chinese officials are increasingly conscious that Mr Xi’s position on Ukraine is undermining his efforts to persuade European governments to resist American pressure to “decouple” from China economically and to confront it more directly on security issues, including Taiwan.
“The fundamentals are the same,” says Alexander Gabuev of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre in Berlin. He suggests that China delayed the Zelensky call over concerns about what Ukraine’s leader might say publicly, but then accelerated plans to help walk back the Chinese ambassador’s remarks and to “show that Macron and others who are enthusiastic about China’s diplomatic role are not mistaken”.
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