CHINA WOULD HAVE TRIED TO PREVENT UKRAINE ‘CRISIS’ HAD IT KNOWN: ENVOY

BEIJING: If China had known about the “imminent crisis” in Ukraine, it would have tried its best to prevent it, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, wrote in a piece published by the Washington Post on Wednesday. It’s the latest denial from Beijing that it was privy to Moscow’s plans to invade its neighbour.

“Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it,” Qin wrote in the piece, abiding by China’s position to not define Russia’s actions an invasion.

His denial followed several reports in western media outlets suggesting that officials from Russia and China were in contact about Moscow’s plans to invade, especially against the backdrop of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with President Xi Jinping when Putin was in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics early on in February.

Reports earlier this week also alleged that Beijing had shown a willingness to comply with a request from Moscow for military and financial aid in the war. Beijing has staunchly denied the reports.

“Recent rumours further claimed that Russia was seeking military assistance from China. Let me say this responsibly: Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation. All these claims serve only the purpose of shifting blame to and slinging mud at China,” Qin said.

“There were more than 6000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine. China is the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine, and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world,” Qin said, arguing that “conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China.”

CHINA HAS MADE ‘HUGE EFFORTS’ TO PUSH FOR PEACE TALKS AND THE PREVENTION OF A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN UKRAINE, QIN GANG SAID IN WASHINGTON POST