Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday said that China was helping Russia to disrupt an upcoming Swiss-organized peace conference on the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at Asia’s premier security and defense conference, Zelenskiy said that China is pressuring other countries and their leaders not to attend the upcoming talks.
He did not say which ones.
Photo: AFP
“Russia, using Chinese influence in the region, using Chinese diplomats also, does everything to disrupt the peace summit,” he told a news conference at the Shangri-La Dialogue forum. “Regrettably this is unfortunate that such a big independent powerful country as China is an instrument in the hands of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
China has staked out what it says is a neutral position on the war, putting it at odds with Ukraine, the US and most of Europe. Its trade with Russia has grown, easing the economic impact of Western sanctions.
US, Ukrainian and other intelligence agencies say there is evidence that Chinese parts are winding up in Russian weaponry, even if China is not directly arming its neighbor.
The Swiss had been hoping China would attend the peace conference later this month, but Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) on Friday signaled that was unlikely. China has been calling for a peace conference with equal participation of all sides, including Russia, which has not been invited.
“There is still a clear gap between the arrangements for the meeting and the demands of the Chinese side, as well as the general expectations of the international community,” Mao said. “This makes it difficult for China to participate in the meeting.”
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Zelenskiy’s accusation.
“That is not only support to Russia, that is basically support of war,” Zelenskiy said of China’s pressure on others.
In a speech to the security conference earlier in the day, he urged top defense officials to attend the upcoming talks in Switzerland, saying he was disappointed at the failure of some countries to commit to joining.
Chinese Minister of Defense Dong Jun (董軍) spoke before Zelenskiy at the conference, but he did not appear to be in the room when Zelenskiy made his appeal.
Ukraine had proposals to make at the summit as a basis for peace, addressing nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, Zelenskiy said.
“Time is running out, and the children are growing up in the Putin-land where they are taught to hate their homeland,” he said.
At the same time, he said that Ukraine is “ready to hear various proposals and thoughts that lead us ... to an end of the war and a sustainable and just peace.”
The greater the participation, the more likely it will be that Russia would have to listen, he said.
“The global majority can ensure with their involvement that what is agreed upon is truly implemented,” he said.
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘NO COUNTRY BUMPKIN’: The judge rejected arguments that former prime minister Najib Razak was an unwitting victim, saying Najib took steps to protect his position Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was yesterday convicted, following a corruption trial tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. The nation’s high court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than US$700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. Najib denied any wrongdoing, and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by businessman Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal’s mastermind, remains
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
RSS