{"id":9770,"date":"2022-04-01T13:30:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=9770"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:43:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:43:02","slug":"how-does-china-view-the-war-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/how-does-china-view-the-war-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"How does China view the war in Ukraine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How does China view the war in Ukraine? It poses many difficult questions for China\u2019s diplomatic corps, writes Joe Cash<\/strong>. And while China is unlikely to intervene directly, its stance will still require careful diplomatic handling<\/h2>\n

Vladimir Putin\u2019s decision to invade Ukraine presents China with its biggest foreign policy crisis in 20 years. In a similar way to when NATO forces accidentally bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Yugoslav Wars of the late 1990s, the incursion puts the foundation of China\u2019s foreign policy under considerable strain. The circumstances under which intervening in another country\u2019s domestic affairs is justifiable is consistently one of the most contested topics in international affairs. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not for the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC), though, which has long been resolute that whatever the world\u2019s worries, they are not China\u2019s concern \u2013 it falls to those directly involved to remedy the situation. But as was the case in 1999, so it is today, and Beijing finds itself caught between NATO, an ideologically aligned state on Europe\u2019s border, and a US-led world order watching in horror as events unfold. What is different this time is that the PRC is a major player in global governance, and it has stated that its relationship with the antagonist \u201cknows no limits.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This policy update considers how China views the war in Ukraine and how it could affect international politics and economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Background\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

On 21st February, Vladimir Putin kicked off the conflict by recognising the independence of two Ukrainian territories. Then, on 24th February, he ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine, starting a war. Since then there has been a massive barrage of sanctions against Russia \u2013 first to deter and then to penalise the Kremlin for its act of aggression. The UK, the US, the European Union, Canada, and Japan, among a host of other countries, have all applied financial sanctions, export controls on things like semiconductors, and some import bans. The UK, the US, Canada and the EU have also all stated that they will no longer buy, or would begin to phase out, Russian oil and gas. Countries have even started raising their import tariffs on goods coming from Russia. But, as it stands, none of that has been enough to stop the war. What\u2019s more, the world is looking to understand China\u2019s stance on the conflict to gauge whether it will offer Russia an economic and financial lifeline.<\/span><\/p>\n

China\u2019s actions to date\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

The PRC finds itself under an intense spotlight because, out of the other major economies to have refrained from condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine, it is the only one to have described its relationship with Moscow as \u201crock solid.\u201d India, for example, has also decided that keeping the Kremlin sweet is in its interests \u2013 Russia is a significant arms supplier to India, which has a tricky relationship with China along their Himalayan border. There are indications that Beijing would like to cast that light a little wider. India\u2019s abstention at the UN General Assembly vote denouncing Russian aggression towards its neighbour two weeks ago reportedly did not gone unnoticed, leading Chinese scholars to retort that with the 40 countries that abstained or backed Russia during the vote accounting for most of the world\u2019s population, not everyone is watching events unfolding in Ukraine in horror. A new world order based on majority rule has been among China\u2019s aspirations in global governance for a while now, and there are numerous reasons why Beijing might appreciate how much influence it has in the conflict. This leverage is not without risk, though.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n