Beijing Hits Out At Claims It Backed Ukraine Attack

The Foreign Ministry has spoken about Russia's attack on Ukraine, saying on Friday that China opposes any act inciting war and has taken a responsible attitude from the very beginning to persuade all parties not to escalate tensions.

The Xinhua News Agency said spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to suggestions from the US State Department that Moscow had launched its huge offensive thanks to Beijing's backing.

Responding at the ministry's daily press briefing to queries about Ukraine, Hua Chunying said the United States had sent at least US$1.5 billion worth of weapons and ammunition to the country.

She said "if all the parties [to the crisis] had promoted peace talks, reviewed the historical context of the Ukraine issue, respected and accommodated each other's security concerns, and resolved the issue in a reasonable, proper way for a soft landing of the situation, what would be happening now?"

The culprit of the tensions, she said, should now consider how to put out the fire as soon as possible with concrete actions, instead of blaming others.

But Hua also appeared to distance Beijing from Moscow's actions, saying Russia - as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a major independent country - had independently formulated and implemented its own diplomatic strategy based on its own judgment and national interests.

Stressing that China-Russia relations are built on the basis of non-alliance, non-confrontation and the non-targeting of third countries, the spokesperson said this is fundamentally different from US actions in drawing ideological lines, forming cliques with bloc politics and creating confrontations and divisions.

"Even today, we are still facing the real threat from the United States and its so-called allies wantonly interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining China's sovereignty and security on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan issues," she said.