Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi specified Beijing's position regarding the events surrounding Ukraine a few days before the Russian president announced the entry of Russian "peacekeeping forces" into Donetsk and Luhansk. He stressed that the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and protected. That is the basic norm in international relations, China adheres to those principles, and of course they also apply to Ukraine. No country, not even a superpower, can voluntarily change international norms, or place itself above those norms.
In the first reports of the Chinese news agency Xinhua in Russian, however, this position on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is not mentioned, although it is clearly stated on the website of the Chinese MID, and it was also reported by the Chinese media.
On the day when Putin signed the decree recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk, Xinhua put the words "independence" and "two states" in quotation marks. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on "all parties" to resolve the Ukrainian problem through dialogue and negotiations. At the same time, China estimates that the only way to solve the problem is the agreement from 2015, known as "Minsk 2". That agreement was also accepted by the UN Security Council, but it was never implemented. Ukraine and Russia interpret it in different ways.
Beijing estimates that China, as a large country, should not take a decision in this dispute, but rather encourage a peaceful solution and dialogue between the interested parties. That is why both Russia and the West can be partially satisfied with China's positions, and partially not.
The West, for example, can welcome China's statement on respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and Russia can use China's statement to support its views that "European friends" should seriously consider whether NATO's eastward expansion represents a contribution to European stability or not, as well as that Russia's concern for its own security should be respected.
Beijing's position is balanced and this can be explained by internal Chinese needs, economic reasons and, not least, the role that this superpower has or aspires to have in world politics. China is balancing as it tries to maintain its excellent relations with the Kremlin at the same time, but also not to further deteriorate relations with the United States of America and Western countries.
Pragmatic Chinese policy is present especially in the trade and economic sphere. Despite all the sanctions and harsh statements, trade between China and the US increased by 27 percent last year and reached close to 800 billion dollars. China's trade with Russia is several times smaller and mainly relates to gas and oil, which are Moscow's main export assets.
While recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, China is mindful of its own problems with Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet. Any eventual change in the status quo in these Chinese regions would lead to much larger war conflicts than the current ones in Ukraine.
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