Opinion | Ukraine FM Kuleba says China has 'great potential' to help end war
By Augustus K. Yeung
For Ukraine, a country that has been listening to Washington and counting on American financial and military supports, Mr. Kuleba's recent remarks carry a lot of weight – as China has been unilaterally portrayed by Western media propaganda as Mr. Putin's friend, whose friendship has "no limits".
For Ukraine, to take China's advice is unthinkable – in the context of bloc siding and "group think" in which America has openly defined China as its prime "rival", whose "threats" to the United States go above and beyond Russia.
For China, this way of conceptualizing the situation is untrue and unfair, failing to underscore the fact that Ukraine has always been an honest business friend and on friendly terms with China; it's a country which China feels thankful to – for "selling" its aircraft carrier, a Soviet era showpiece, now reconfigured as the "Liao Ling".
For China, Ukraine has always been, and China hopes it will continue to be an honest and good farming country – growing wheats that reflected China's old image and identity as an agricultural country. Both counties looked alike, even "smell" alike, earning the nickname the "good earth". Both peoples are peace-loving country folks.
But, for Joe Biden – who has inherited a shaky presidency from Donald J. Trump, who focused on "Making American Great Again", and had once and again threated to abandon NATO counties should they fail to pay the annual bloc membership fees of 2% of their GDP – American is losing its luster in Europe.
This incident has (then and now) created a leadership crisis among NATO countries, which have all along been relying on American military support.
Now, conditions have drastically changed in America – whose House and Senate have threaten to curtail its financial and military obligations, cutting Ukraine's umbilical cord.
Given this drastic challenge, Ukraine now must reassess American support. It must now see China in a more realistic way, and may even be heartily expecting China to play a mediating role – as it has done in the Middle East.
China has "great potential" to help end the Ukraine war and both countries remained "confident in each other", Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday, March 19, according to Chinese media reports.
"In bilateral relations between Ukraine and China there has never been any major problems, so the trust is there," Kuleba told news portal The Paper. He also said Kyiv anticipated more dialogue with Beijing in the future.
Kuleba's turnaround remarks came as Beijing continued engagement aimed at mediating peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow – while Switzerland worked with Ukraine to plan a high-level peace conference.
Earlier this month, Li Hui, Beijing's special envoy for Eurasian affairs, travelled to Kyiv, Moscow and EU countries for a second round of talks – to test the waters for peace negotiations, calling for a political settlement to the war as he met Kuleba in Ukraine.
In February, Kuleba met Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where he agreed to continue dialogue and maintain contact – at all levels.
Kuleba described both meetings as "meaningful", adding that Li had "participated in all the briefings and meetings – to get a full picture of the situation", The Paper reported.
Last month, during the annual meeting of China's top legislative and political advisor bodies, Wang Yi called for an international peace conference to end the war. "If peace talks cannot be opened, misunderstanding and miscalculations will accumulate and multiply, thus creating a bigger crisis," he said.
China was expected to join the Ukraine peace summit hosted by Switzerland, and work on inviting Russia, the Post reported earlier.
On Monday, March 18, ambassador to Switzerland Wang Shiting told the Zurich-based Neue Zurcher Zeitung that China was "examining the possibility of taking part".
Note: China has positioned itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war, and on the first anniversary of the conflict, Beijing released a 12-point peace plan, despite failing to condemn Russia for the invasion.
During a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Li agreed Russia should be included in any proposed peace settlement, according to Moscow's foreign ministry.
Note: In Munich last month, Wang said the conditions had not yet been right for peace talks and that the concerns of both Russia and Ukraine should be taken into consideration.
On Monday, March 18, as Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide re-election, President Xi Jinping sent his congratulations and pledged his support for the China-Russia partnership.
The two leaders are expected to meet several times this year, according to China's ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui. (Source: SCMP)
Back home in America, Joe Biden, too, is busy fighting his war against Donald J. Trump, whose concern is recapturing his "stolen" presidency and occupying the White House he said for its great beauty.
Using Ukraine and pitching it against Russia's Putin, the crowning of Joe Biden – as a legitimate supreme leader to which NATO countries listen to, look up to, and look forward to for material supports – has been fulfilled.
In contrast and in reality, the Ukraine war has left both Ukraine and Russia both materially depleted and economically exhausted.
The war in Ukraine has also triggered economic crisis worldwide, and poor African women and children have suffered severe food shortage the most. And, millions of Ukrainians, young and old, women and children are left homeless, making ways to all parts of the world – looking for ways to survive this insane war. China sees it all.
With or without U.S. involvement and intervention, China is serious and sincere about playing a mediating role in the Ukraine war.
China's absolute neutrality helps to make it a well-qualified contender for this humanitarian role.
China's rewards? To be perceived, recognized world-wide as a mediator and peacekeeper is perhaps China's best reward; this may even be the best way to solicit U.S. cooperation, bringing healthy bilateral ties to a new height.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
To contact the writer, please direct email: AugustusKYeung@ymail.com
Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:
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