BEIJING: China on Thursday called for restraint on all sides after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on Ukraine, while saying the military operation should not be described as an “invasion”.
Putin announced the launch of a major military offensive and ground troops crossed into the country from several directions on Thursday, with explosions heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
More than 40 Ukrainian soldiers and around 10 civilians died in the first hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Thursday.
“I know that more than 40 have been killed and several dozen wounded. I am aware of nearly 10 civilian losses,” presidential administration aide Oleksiy Arestovych told reporters. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
“China is closely watching the latest situation, and we call on all parties to maintain restraint and prevent the situation from getting out of control,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing where she was repeatedly asked if Beijing condemned the actions.
Beijing has trod a cautious line on Ukraine as Moscow massed thousands of troops on the borders, and criticised the West for new sanctions after Russia ordered troops into two breakaway Ukrainian regions it now recognises as independent.
Hua on Thursday refused to call the military action an “invasion”, labelling the term “prejudiced”, and dodged questions on whether China was in contact with Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
“The Ukraine issue has a very complicated historical background” and was the result of “various factors,” Hua told reporters.
China has blamed the United States and its Western allies in recent weeks for “hyping up” the crisis, with Hua saying at an earlier briefing on Wednesday that the US was “adding fuel to the fire.”
The Chinese embassy in Ukraine on Thursday warned its citizens to be alert for “severe disturbances” and to stay home as much as possible.
The United States accused China and Russia of working together to create a new “profoundly illiberal” world order of which Moscow’s actions towards Ukraine were just a part.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said every responsible country in the world, including China, had an obligation to urge Putin to back down and de-escalate the Ukraine crisis.
“You will have to ask the PRC whether they have used their own considerable influence with the Russian Federation to that end,” Price said at a regular news briefing in reference to the People’s Republic of China.
Referring to an upgraded “no limits” partnership that China and Russia announced this month in which they pledged to collaborate more against the United States and the West, Price said the direction of the development of China-Russia relations was of “great concern”.
“We think that Russia and the PRC also want a world order,” he said.
“But this is an order that is and would be profoundly illiberal, an order that stands in contrast to the system that countries around the world ... have built in the last seven decades.
“It is an order that is in many ways destructive, rather than additive.”
Price noted that China had repeatedly in its statecraft stressed that the principle of sovereignty was inviolable and sacrosanct.
“So, you’ll have to ask the PRC, how they marry that long-standing position with anything less than an effort to use the considerable influence and sway they have with the Russian Federation to urge Vladimir Putin to back down and to de-escalate,” he said.
China has urged all parties in the Ukraine standoff to exercise restraint and said that the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of any country should be respected and safeguarded.
At the same time, it has urged the United States to respect and address Russia’s demands for security guarantees.
US-based analysts say China is concerned about the impact Russian actions towards Ukraine could have on its trade relationship with Europe if it is considered to be supporting Russia.
But they also believe Beijing’s ambiguous stance and its upgraded pact with Russia have given Putin the confidence to press ahead on Ukraine.
Experts said last week China would back Russia diplomatically and perhaps economically if it invades Ukraine, but would stop short of providing military support.
Washington has warned Chinese firms they would face consequences if they sought to evade any export controls imposed on Moscow.
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