Smearing China over Ukraine crisis exposes hypocrisy, double standards

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily

Recently, some American politicians groundlessly hyped up claims that China is supporting Russia’s defense industry, and threatened to intensify sanctions on specific Chinese entities and individuals.

NATO, led by the United States, has also baselessly claimed that China has become a “decisive enabler” of the Ukraine crisis.

By pushing the narrative of “China’s responsibility” in the Ukraine crisis, the United States and NATO are not only failing to cover up the fact that their continuous fueling of the conflict has prolonged the crisis, but also clearly showing the international community that their obsession with provoking bloc confrontation is the major security threat facing the world today.

Regarding the Ukraine crisis, the United States and NATO are making a fuss about normal economic and trade relations between China and Russia, spreading rumors about China providing military support to Russia. However, they cannot present any substantial evidence. In fact, the United States itself has acknowledged that China has not provided military aid to Russia in the conflict.

According to statistics, over 60 percent of Russia’s imported military components and dual-use items come from the United States and other Western countries, 95 percent of Russia’s key components destroyed by Ukraine come from the West, and 72 percent of Western parts of Russian-made weapons come from U.S. companies.

As a responsible major country, China has never provided weapons to any party in the conflict and strictly controls the export of dual-use items.

Trade and economic relations between China and Russia are open and above-board, adhering to WTO rules and market principles. The United States and its allies have violated international law by imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies under the pretext of false information they themselves have spread.

Currently, the majority of countries in the world have not imposed sanctions against Russia or suspended trade with Russia. The United States and its allies have not halted trade with Russia either, with their trade volume reaching over $130 billion last year, accounting for 18 percent of Russia’s total foreign trade. The efforts by the United States and NATO to stigmatize normal economic and trade relations between China and Russia clearly demonstrate their hypocrisy and double standards.

The United States and NATO’s promotion of the so-called “China’s responsibility” narrative regarding the Ukraine crisis conceals sinister motives. One important aim is to drive a wedge between China and Europe and undermine China-Europe cooperation.

Ukraine is located in the heart of the European continent, and the prolonged crisis has put enormous pressure on European countries in political, economic, security, and other aspects. China is neither the creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a party to it. China has not and will not do anything to fuel the fire or profit from the situation.

China is always committed to promoting peace talks, encourages all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis, and promotes the building of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture.

China always believes that an early ceasefire and political settlement of the crisis is in the interest of all parties, including Europe. The priority now is to observe the three principles of no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no fanning up the flames by any party, and to work for deescalation as quickly as possible.

The international community should provide conditions and support for the resumption of direct dialogue and negotiation between the two parties. Only when all major countries play a positive rather than negative role, can this conflict see an early prospect of ceasefire.

In promoting the restoration of peace, China has sincerity, takes action, and adheres to principles. China will never accept any words or actions that use the crisis to smear China or incite a “new Cold War.”

Regarding the Ukraine crisis, there’s no doubt about who is fueling the fire and exacerbating the situation. For more than two years, the United States has provided a large amount of military aid to Ukraine. The destructive power of the weapons supplied to Ukraine has gradually increased, and restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-made weapons have been relaxed again and again.

At the end of May this year, a U.S. official confirmed that the United States had conditionally agreed to allow Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike targets within Russian territory. Another U.S. official recently stated that some NATO countries have begun transferring U.S.-made fighter jets to Ukraine. The ongoing supply of weapons by the United States and NATO has made it harder to resolve the crisis through political means and has undermined prospects for peace.

The early resolution of the Ukraine crisis through political means is a common aspiration of the international community. It is advised that the United States and NATO reflect on the root causes of the Ukraine crisis and their own actions, take concrete steps to ease the situation, rather than shifting blame and scapegoating others.

The United States and NATO should abandon the Cold War mentality of bloc confrontation and zero-sum games, correct their misperceptions about China, and stop smearing China and using this opportunity to suppress and contain China’s development.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)