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China Shares ‘Common Goal’ With Russia to Undermine US, Can’t Be Trusted to Mediate End to Ukraine Crisis: Lawmakers

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China Shares ‘Common Goal’ With Russia to Undermine US, Can’t Be Trusted to Mediate End to Ukraine Crisis: Lawmakers
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Qingdao, China, on June 10, 2018. (Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Eva Fu
3/8/2022
Updated:
3/10/2022
0:00

The Chinese Communist Party is an ally of Russia and can’t be trusted to help resolve the Ukraine crisis, U.S. lawmakers told The Epoch Times.

The warning comes amid growing calls from Ukraine and elsewhere pressing the regime in Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to mediate an end to the conflict.

China’s stance on the war has been under intense international scrutiny since Russia first opened fire against Ukraine. Despite the repeated urging of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for Beijing to “make its voice heard,” and Kyiv calling for the regime to leverage its diplomatic relations with Moscow to press for a ceasefire, Beijing has carefully sidestepped the topic, refusing to denounce Russia’s aggression or join Western sanctions on Moscow.
It’s now the only major country in the world that refuses to call the Russian action an “invasion.”

“China has been deliberately, consistently, and deeply unhelpful throughout this crisis,” a spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told The Epoch Times.

“The Chinese Communist Party uses ‘sovereignty’ as an excuse for its aggression across Asia, but has refused to condemn Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine,” the spokesperson added, referring to the regime’s claim that it holds sovereignty over the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan, which it seeks to absorb by force if necessary.

Beijing’s stance shouldn’t be surprising in view of the mutual interests of the two countries’ leaders, the spokesperson said. China’s leader Xi Jinping views Russian President Vladimir Putin “as an ally in their mutual goal of undermining the United States and our allies.”

‘Hypocrisy’

On day 12 of Russia’s attack, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the country’s friendship with Moscow as “rock solid,” an affirmation stated after Xi and Putin announced a “no limits” partnership between the two countries in early February.

Wang also for the first time signaled China’s willingness to provide “necessary mediation” in the conflict, but rejected the possibility that a diplomatic fallout would hinder China’s relationship with Russia.

“No matter how precarious and challenging the international situation may be,” he told reporters, China and Russia will “steadily advance our comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.”

Wang’s remarks showed plainly enough that the world can’t put its hopes on China to end the bloody conflict, said Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.).

“While the world works to rally support for Ukraine, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Russia his country’s ‘most important strategic partner,’” she told The Epoch Times.

“As authoritarian regimes seek to undermine freedom and democracy around the world, we know Xi Jinping’s regime cannot be a trusted mediator.”

A rescuer pushes a cart with an elderly woman during the evacuation by civilians from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 8, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
A rescuer pushes a cart with an elderly woman during the evacuation by civilians from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 8, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

There’s also a touch of irony in China’s tacit support for Russia.

“Ukraine is exposing the hypocrisy of the Chinese Communist Party. They preach non-interference in internal affairs of other countries but refuse to condemn an invasion of a sovereign state,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times.

“And they condemn Taiwan’s desire to separate from the mainland but support Putin recognizing breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine.

“They hypocritically support Russia’s criminal invasion because they share a common goal with Putin, to impose a new global order with them at the top and America relegated to becoming a second-rate power.”

The island of Taiwan faces a similar predicament to Ukraine due to the growing threats from its larger neighbor. Chinese warplanes have continued to harass Taiwan on a regular basis since the Ukraine war started, and the regime has held multiple military drills in the South China Sea, heightening anxieties for the island.
People who fled the war in Ukraine wait in line to board a bus behind removable barriers as Police officers and Polish Territorial defense soldiers help to manage the crowd after crossing the Polish Ukrainian border in Medyka, Poland, on March 8, 2022. (Omar Marques/Getty Images)
People who fled the war in Ukraine wait in line to board a bus behind removable barriers as Police officers and Polish Territorial defense soldiers help to manage the crowd after crossing the Polish Ukrainian border in Medyka, Poland, on March 8, 2022. (Omar Marques/Getty Images)

The Chinese regime has come to Moscow’s aid as the latter sustains punishment from the West.

After Mastercard, Visa, and American Express cut off their services in Russia, the country’s banks turned to China for alternatives.
Bilateral trade has surged. In the first two months of 2022, China’s exports from Russia rose 41.5 percent from the year-earlier period, a growth rate exceeding all other countries, according to Chinese customs authorities.

China lifted all import restrictions on Russian wheat on the first day of Russia’s invasion. By 2024, the two countries are aiming to boost total trade to a record $250 billion.

Meanwhile, there’s growing evidence that the Chinese regime knew of Putin’s plans months ago.

READ MORE
Concerned that Putin would mount a “reckless invasion,” White House officials had engaged China in advance entreating its officials to help avert a war, but China declined, a top U.S. policy adviser recently said in a panel event.
Instead, senior Chinese officials reportedly asked Russia to postpone making a military move until the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Such reports have prompted analysts to argue that the Chinese regime had privately supported Putin’s plans as part of a mutual bid to counter the West.