China, seemingly surprised by sudden Ukraine incursion, denies backing Russian attacks

By Ogundele Olanrewaju

China on Thursday denied backing Russia’s military assault in Ukraine as it trod a cautious line in response to a conflict that many Chinese analysts just days before were predicting wouldn’t happen.

At a regular briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying downplayed the suggestion that Beijing was supporting Moscow behind the scenes.

“As for American hints that Russia had China backing it up, I’m sure Russia would be pleased to hear it,” Hua said. “We won’t be like America and provide Ukraine a large amount of military equipment. Russia as a powerful nation also does not need China or other countries to provide [military assistance].”

Hua added that “China did not wish to see what happened in Ukraine today.”

In her remarks, Hua called out NATO for owing China a “debt of blood” over the bombing of the Chinese embassy to Yugoslavia by U.S. warplanes in 1999. Bringing up that incident was probably an effort to drum up anti-U.S. sentiment against the backdrop of the Russian attacks on Ukraine.

The incident remains a sore spot for many in China who are suspicious of the official NATO explanation that it was an accident caused by outdated maps. On Thursday evening, that comment was the top trending hashtag with 460 million views on Chinese microblog Weibo.

The Russian attacks are the greatest test yet for an emerging Moscow-Beijing partnership, which has recently shown signs of evolving from what many considered a “marriage of convenience” to something resembling a formal alliance.

In recent weeks, China has voiced support for Russia’s “legitimate security concerns” but has balanced that with calls for restraint and negotiations, echoing the approach China took during the 2014 invasion of Crimea. Beijing appeared to be repeating that tightrope walk on Thursday, as it called for calm while news of the attacks sent regional markets plunging.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for a return to dialogue in a call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. China both respects every country’s territorial integrity and understands the Kremlin’s “reasonable security concerns.”

Despite the outward show of mutual support between the two countries, there have been indications that China was caught flat-footed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of military action.

Minutes after the declaration, Chinese representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun told a Security Council meeting: “We believe that the door to a peaceful solution to the Ukraine situation is not fully shut, nor should it be.”