Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. (file)
Beijing:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping said war is “in no one’s interest” during a phone call with Joe Biden on Friday, in which the US president sought to pressure Beijing to join Western condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The target was set.
The White House said the 1:50-hour-long phone call ended at 10:53 a.m. in Washington (1453 GMT).
State broadcaster CCTV reported Xi saying during the call that “state-by-state relations cannot escalate to the level of military hostility.”
Xi was quoted as saying that China and the United States “must take up international responsibilities”, as well as declaring that “peace and security are the most valuable treasures of the international community.”
It was not immediately clear whether Xi made any direct criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack against Ukraine or expressed a desire to aid in a US-led pressure campaign on the Kremlin.
In his first call since November, Biden hopes to persuade Xi to at least give up on any idea of taking Russia out.
China must “understand that their future lies with the United States, with Europe, with other developed and developing countries around the world. Their future does not lie with Vladimir Putin,” said Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. told CNN on Friday.
So far Beijing has refused to condemn its fellow authoritarian ally, and Washington fears China could provide financial and military aid for Russia, turning an already explosive transatlantic standoff into a global dispute.
If that happens, Beijing could not only help Putin with weather sanctions and continue the war, but Western governments would face the painful decision to strike back on the world’s second-largest economy, causing turmoil in international markets. There may be chaos.
The White House had remained silent on whether Biden would threaten China with economic sanctions during his call, but some kind of response was on the table.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said before the call, “Biden will make clear that China will be responsible for whatever actions are taken to support Russia’s aggression, and we will not hesitate to impose costs.”
Blinken urged China to use its “leverage” on Moscow.
China ‘balancing priorities’
The Biden-Xi call came after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Communist Party chief diplomat Yang Jiechi called a seven-hour meeting in Rome this week by the White House.
Against the backdrop of already intense US-Chinese tensions over Taiwan and trade disputes, Biden and Xi’s ability or failure to grasp at the devastation unfolding in Europe will resonate widely.
Xi and Putin symbolically sealed their close partnership when they met at the February Winter Olympics in Beijing – just before Putin launched his attack on Ukraine.
Since then, Beijing has refused to join the international outcry over the invasion, while taking a Russian line, blaming the United States and NATO for European tensions. In keeping with the Kremlin’s negotiating points, Chinese officials again declined to refer to the invasion as “war”.
But China has also tried to be somewhat vague in declaring its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Brookings Institution partner Ryan Hayes, a former adviser to Chinese President Barack Obama, said Beijing must resolve its conflicting priorities.
Despite the cohabitation with Moscow, China – the world’s largest exporter – remains tightly bound to the US and other Western economies. It also wants to take a leadership role in the world.
“China and Russia’s interests are not in alignment. Putin is the arsonist of the international system and President Xi sees himself as an architect for the reconstruction and reform of the international system,” Haas said.
“President Xi is trying to balance competing priorities. He really places a lot of value in China’s partnership with Russia but at the same time he doesn’t want to undermine China’s ties in the West.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)