Are we witnessing the beginning of a world conflict? For the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine, China has positioned itself in favor of Russia. At a press conference in Beijing on Monday, January 30, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused the U.S. “for triggering the crisis in Ukraine” and D’ “being the main factor that feeds it” by supplying heavy weapons to Kiev.
ALSO READ:Conspiracy: Is the West getting involved in the conflict in Ukraine?
On January 24, the US administration had criticized Chinese public companies for helping Russia militarily and economically, recalls the US network Bloomberg. Unfounded accusations, believes Beijing, which considers itself to be the victim of “blackmail”. In his statement, spokesman Mao Ning accuses Washington of having “sowed paranoia”. She claims that China “would never add fuel to the fire”and ensures that the country “would fuel the crisis even less”.
End of neutrality
Chinese corporate support for Russia consists of non-lethal military and economic assistance, according to Bloomberg, which does not constitute a breach of the sanctions regime imposed by the US and its allies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
ALSO READ:Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East: is the war in Ukraine weakening the areas of Russian influence?
This unprecedented change of tone comes just days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing on Sunday and next Monday. Until now, Xi Jinping had always taken a neutral stance towards Vladimir Putin. About mid-September, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit [dont font partie la Chine et la Russie] where Beijing expressed its concerns over the war in Ukraine to its Russian counterpart. Or at the end of September at the UN General Assembly, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Ukraine and Russia not to let the war “overflow”.