Foreign minister urges West to ‘stop throwing blame at China’ over Ukraine
- Qin Gang also called for countries to stop comparing Ukraine with Taiwan and said Beijing was ‘deeply concerned’ conflict could spiral out of control
- He was launching a Global Security Initiative concept paper that calls for ‘legitimate and reasonable security concerns’ of nations to be addressed
“We urge the countries concerned to immediately stop pouring oil on the fire, stop throwing blame at China and stop advocating ‘Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow’,” Qin told diplomats and academics at a forum in Beijing on Tuesday.
He said China was “deeply concerned” that the conflict in Ukraine could spiral out of control and that Beijing would continue to promote peace talks.
It came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News on Sunday that China was “considering providing lethal support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine – a claim that has sparked concern, particularly in Europe, where there is growing wariness over Beijing’s ties with Moscow.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is expected to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday, his last stop on a nine-day European tour. The visit could include a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Beijing has denied the accusation and said it was the US, not China, that had been supplying weapons to the battlefield in Ukraine.
