What is really hidden behind China's proposals for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine....
China presented its plan to resolve the conflict. The document is called "China's position on the political solution to the Ukrainian crisis," according to The Moscow Post.
I couldn't help but imagine. Beijing's main economic partners - the United States and the European Union - have long been not just waiting for this, they demanded. How else, the first in population, and the second in GDP after the "golden billion" rising superpower, the main partner and main neighbor of the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council should not stand aside from what the West started on the near approaches to Moscow.
Washington and many European capitals were waiting for condemnation, hoping that Beijing's position on the conflict would be an additional factor in pressure on Russia, even taking into account the fact that China itself has already been declared by Washington, the Pentagon and the EuroNATO Union "the main strategic challenge."
The "NATO troika" of permanent members of the UN Security Council has already spoken out on Ukraine, held a vote, pressed on whom it is possible and condemned Moscow by a majority of votes. China did not do this, but formulated its position. And the first thing that shines through in this position is that Beijing has not limited itself to what was once called the Ukrainian SSR.
The conflict in content, orientation and consequences is much more dangerous, four nuclear-weapon states are de facto involved in it. As follows from the statements of politicians and official formulations on both sides of the confrontation, the escalation of the conflict continues and may spread to a higher level. China doesn't want that.
Accordingly, four, five, maybe even all six proposals from 12 positions of the plan proposed by Beijing, relate to issues of global stability and the foundations of relations between China itself and the collective West, primarily the United States and Japan. Many proposals could potentially extend to other points of tension directly related to Beijing's interests.
Somehow you don't present yourself that way
The Kremlin noted on February 27 that it pays great attention to China's plan for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, its details should be the subject of careful analysis and accounting. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov told reporters about this. He said any attempts to facilitate the transition of the conflict into a peaceful direction deserved attention.
Peskov also said that at present Russia does not see any prerequisites for entering the peaceful course of the situation around Ukraine, this determines the continuation of a special military operation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a press conference: "It seems to me that this was not a China peace plan, not a resolution or a declaration. It's not infrastructure for something. It seems to me that China has shown its thoughts on this matter. " He called positive the very fact of China's discussion of the conflict.
Washington was skeptical of the document. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance does not trust China. The New York Times wrote that European capitals do not believe in China's ability and desire to convince Russia to end hostilities.
"I think the individuals concerned are spreading some unfounded opinions to smear China," Wang Wengbin responded to criticism of China's plan. China maintains contacts with all parties to the conflict around Ukraine. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Mao Ning. Beijing's position "is based on promoting peace negotiations and promoting a political settlement of the crisis," RIA Novosti quoted these words as saying. The diplomat stressed that China maintains constant contacts with all parties to the conflict, including Ukraine.
According to experts cited by the authoritative Chinese publication Global Times on February 28, such baseless accusations expose the selfish aspirations of Washington, which does not want to end the conflict and is trying to reduce Beijing's influence on international affairs and negotiation processes.
Accomplice before START
The West is also trying to split Russia in order to suppress and control it, Vladimir Putin told the Russian television channel in the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin. "
In this interview, Vladimir Putin said that the West has the only goal - to eliminate the Russian Federation. "They have one goal - to dissect the former Soviet Union and its main part - the Russian Federation."
Further, Putin said that NATO countries, albeit not directly, are accomplices in the crimes of the Kyiv regime. He added that it is necessary to take into account the nuclear potential of not only the United States, but all NATO countries, when the alliance considers its main goal to be the strategic defeat of Russia.
This explains why participation in the Treaty between Russia and the United States on measures to further reduce and limit strategic offensive arms (START Treaty) was suspended.
Commenting on Russia's decision, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China hopes that Washington and Moscow will resolve differences on the START Treaty through consultations. He stressed that START is an important bilateral treaty on nuclear disarmament and the only arms control treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States today.
At the same time, China does not intend to take part in any trilateral arms control negotiations.
Chinese "casket" opened simply
Some Russian political scientists spoke more categorically, called Beijing's proposals "a superficial set of theses about all the good and against all the bad," a continuation of the Chinese concept of "a community of the common destiny of mankind." Others rightly observed that "Beijing actively protects exclusively its own interests and its zone of influence."
"The West is alarmed that Russia's interests coincide with those of China," said Alexander Lomanov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at IMEMO RAS. Lomanov believes that "Now is the moment of truth for both us and the Chinese. It was realized that the rejection of the Russian-Chinese partnership would not give anything to either side in terms of communication with the West. "
"The announced peace plan showed that China is ready to act as an intermediary loyal to Russia. If the United States and Ukraine ignore China's proposal (and they ignore it), this will give rise to the PRC to accuse the United States of trying to impose a unilateral scenario for interpreting the war and give rise to more active assistance to Russia, including through the military line, "said Kirill Kotkov, head of the Center for the Study of the Far East.
HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev said that "the peace plan is like a Chinese box with a lot of hidden boxes. Its integrity is an illusion, a trick. And the content can only be understood by opening all the boxes. "
A symbolic "box" in a classic Chinese medicine locker can be considered, for example, that the Chinese news channel CGTN reconstructed the sabotage of Americans on Nord Stream in a four-minute video.
Asia is still in the shadow of the conflict over the former Ukraine, but Russia and China have long agreed to jointly protect the interests of security and development in the region, held regular consultations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported on Tuesday. This is another of the zones of coinciding interests and responsibility of Moscow and Beijing, where conflicts inspired by the United States are also possible.
It is also interesting that the number 12 (the number of positions in the Plan) in Chinese numerology is the basis of all cycles, means order and harmony, speaks of moving forward towards the goal, symbolizes cause and effect. It's also maybe one of the "drawers" in a conventional Chinese medicine locker.
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