Russia’s war on Ukraine: ‘It has to be China’ as mediator, EU foreign policy chief says
- Europe or US can’t mediate in crisis, so China must play a role, Josep Borrell says
- Call accompanied by defence of sending weapons to Ukraine and imposition of harsh sanctions on Russia
Published: 10:26pm, 5 Mar, 2022
Updated: 10:26pm, 5 Mar, 2022
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has spoken out strongly in favour of China mediating in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“There is no alternative. We [Europeans] cannot be the mediators, that is clear … And it cannot be the US either. Who else? It has to be China, I trust in that,” Borrell said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
But Borrell, who is from Spain, admitted that there were no firm plans by the warring sides and their supporters for outside mediation from China.
“We haven’t asked for it and they [the Chinese] haven’t either.”
Borrell defended the delivery of European weapons to the war zone and the imposition of harsh sanctions on Russia.
These measures were absolutely necessary, he said, regardless of the simultaneous diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict.
The arms shipments allow the Ukrainians to defend themselves, to be in a better position to negotiate and, if possible, to reach a ceasefire, the former Spanish foreign minister and ex-president of the European Parliament said.
“And afterwards, diplomacy must play its part,” and here China “must play a role,” he stressed.
China must be ‘horrified’ at Ukraine war, World Bank chief says, warning of lasting consequences for Russia
- David Malpass says Beijing’s reaction and Western sanctions will influence how Moscow’s future trade relationships develop
- The
World Bank is preparing a half-billion-dollar loan package for Ukraine,
and hopes the money will be ready as soon as next week
Published: 4:40am, 5 Mar, 2022
Updated: 4:40am, 5 Mar, 2022
Russia’s war in Ukraine has “horrified” the World Bank’s shareholders, including China, and will have lasting consequences for Russia’s international standing, the global lender’s president said on Friday.
World Bank President David Malpass told Fox Business Network that China’s reaction to the war and the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow would be influential in determining how Russia’s future trade relationships develop.
He said the raft of sanctions was having a significant impact on Russia’s interactions with financial markets, while raising questions about its dependence on China and delivering a huge supply shock to world energy and food markets.
China, a major shareholder in the World Bank, had to be “horrified at where this is developing”, Malpass said.
“That’ll be an important issue in how world trade develops. They buy oil from Russia when the sanctions are in place, but can the companies really remain part of the world system when they’re so engaged with Russia? We’ll have to see how that evolves.”
The World Bank chief noted a “global outpouring in favour of Ukraine, and that will have lasting consequences, whatever the outcome of the war”, and cited what he called “a very clear focus on Putin being the source of the problem”.
He listed previous Russian invasions, including of Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014, but said the current war was far broader.
“This is an order of magnitude worse in terms of the decimation and the deaths that are occurring, so I think there will be lasting consequences,” he said.
Malpass said he would speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later on Friday and planned to submit to the World Bank’s board on Friday a loan package for Ukraine that has been expanded with country contributions and has been coordinated with “people that are in bunkers in Ukraine”.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the package had grown to €460 million (US$503 million). Malpass said the goal was to get the money to Ukraine as early as next week.
Malpass, a former US Treasury official, said the financing for Ukraine would be “for payment of the ongoing – call it war effort – the ongoing development effort and the medicine efforts that they need to do as a government”.
Russia’s global financial isolation intensified on Friday as the London Stock Exchange suspended trading in its last Russian securities and as Europe, the United States and other countries continued to roll out financial sanctions on Russia.
China Fumbles Ukraine Evacuations After Mocking Those Who Prepared
China has evacuated approximately 3,000 of its roughly 6,000 nationals in Ukraine. Before Russia’s invasion, the Chinese Embassy in Kyiv repeatedly denied the need for an evacuation, even as other governments urged their citizens to leave the country. On February 28, a Weibo user posted screenshots of Ukraine-related reports on various countries’ evacuation efforts. All of the reports, dated between February 17 and 27, were sourced from official Chinese media outlets such as Global Times, Beijing Daily, People’s Daily, and iFeng. The timeline of the screenshots shows that the Chinese government had ample forewarning of evacuation activities, but their efficiency lagged far behind that of other countries. Chinese state propaganda organs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found time to promote “patriotism,” while neglecting the physical safety of Chinese citizens in Ukraine, thus “combining their efforts to place compatriots in danger.”
Candi蹦蹦：A chronological record of some “Not-The-Onion” news. [See CDT Chinese for a clickable gallery of the compiled screenshots]
CDT has compiled and translated a selection of the comments under the timeline post:
@味增柑橘醋：Really a case of “great nation, little people.” We’re lowlier than dust.
@盗草人frank: Malicious screenshots, malicious compilation, malicious satire. Malicious exposure of past humiliations, malicious Weibo posting. No screenshots! No compilation! No satire! No exposing past humiliations! No Weibo posting! No malice at all!!! No breathing! No resistance!
@金融法小学生：Does posting compilations like this violate Weibo’s “basic law”? [Chinese]
The delayed evacuation was characterized by mixed messages and sudden reversals. The Chinese government instructed its citizens to display a Chinese flag on their cars—only to reverse course two days later and warn citizens not to reveal their nationality. A similar flip-flop occurred around chartered evacuation flights. The Chinese Embassy in Ukraine announced that it had chartered flights home for all Chinese citizens without offering any specifics on the airport or the date, only to later cancel those plans due to the impossibility of flying private aircraft in a war zone. (Later, some Chinese nationals were flown back to China on chartered flights from Romania.) At South China Morning Post, Cyril Ip reported that some Chinese citizens have faced harassment in Ukraine for their government’s perceived pro-Russia stance:
A Chinese businesswoman in Kyiv told state tabloid Global Times that she had been harassed on the street. “Some agitated Ukrainian youngsters assume that China must be siding with Russia,” she was quoted as saying.
[…] Meanwhile, a student claimed in a Weibo post that nearly 200 Chinese nationals at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute had been told by the embassy that no vehicles were available to collect them. “Our safety isn’t guaranteed,” he wrote. “May our country help us evacuate to a safe place and return to China soon.”
The post was deleted after criticism from other students in Ukraine, who said the embassy was doing everything it could for stranded Chinese. The student later said the Chinese embassy was working to support their evacuation plan. [Source]
The Chinese government has studiously avoided criticizing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine—and still refuses to term it one. Instead, it has repeatedly put the onus of the conflict on NATO’s eastward expansion into “Russia’s doorstep.” China’s criticism of NATO notwithstanding, NATO allies have facilitated the evacuation of Chinese citizens in the face of invasion. A Chinese diplomat personally led a contingent of 106 Chinese students to safety in Poland.
China’s ability to protect its citizens living overseas became a point of pride for Chinese nationalists due to the wildly successful war-film franchise “Wolf Warrior.” “Wolf Warrior II” ends with a clip of a Chinese passport embossed with a reminder: “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China, don’t give up when you encounter dangers abroad! Please remember, behind you stands a strong motherland!” Chinese state-media often references “Wolf Warrior” when conducting evacuations. In 2017, for example, CGTN, China’s international state television broadcaster, released a video that spliced clips from the film with real footage of the People’s Liberation Army Navy evacuating flag-waving Chinese citizens from Yemen as an officer tells them, “President Xi has sent out warships to bring you home.” But real life doesn’t always mirror film. One Chinese doctor got in trouble after mocking the concept when he was stranded in the Pacific during a typhoon. “There’s no such thing as ‘Wolf Warrior’ in real life, don’t even think about it,” he posted on Weibo. At The Wall Street Journal, Sha Hua reported on the Chinese ambassador in Kyiv’s belated realization that the “Wolf Warrior” franchise does not offer a realistic blueprint for wartime evacuations:
In recent days, Mr. Fan, the Chinese ambassador in Kyiv, has made a more concerted effort to address Ukrainian sensibilities. “We respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said in the Saturday video, adding he hoped the crisis would be resolved through negotiations.
[…] In his Saturday video, Mr. Fan acknowledged China’s inexperience in such overseas crises. “In the past few days, like everyone else, we kept hearing the sound of sirens, explosions and gunshots and ran for cover,” he said. “We have previously only seen such scenes in movies.”
For Mr. [Adam] Ni, publisher of China Neican, the movie reference was a clear nod to the Wolf Warrior franchise. “The real world doesn’t work in the same way as in the Wolf Warrior movies,” he said. [Source]
The delayed evacuation has had real consequences. One Chinese student in eastern Ukraine was wounded by gunfire while fleeing to western Ukraine. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to reveal whether Russian or Ukrainian forces were responsible, but on Weibo, where the news garnered over 130 million views, a number of people blamed Ukrainian “Nazis.” Chinese state media debunked a rumor that two Chinese students had been killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv.
'How can I survive?': Stranded Chinese fearful in Ukraine
BEIJING (AFP) - Cao never imagined his holiday in eastern Europe would involve hunkering down in a bomb shelter as Russian shells thudded outside near the devastated Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.
The 25-year-old, one of about 6,000 Chinese nationals who were in Ukraine when war broke out, described feeling helpless and abandoned after purportedly being told by China's embassy in Ukraine to fend for himself.
"The embassy told us to find a way to solve the problems we're facing by ourselves," he told AFP from a small town outside Chernihiv where he has sought refuge with a local family.
"They said that fighting is everywhere, they aren't able to do anything... Shouldn't this be a nation's responsibility?" he said via China's WeChat messaging app.
China announced evacuation efforts for its citizens after war broke out, and has avoided condemning its close ally Moscow. Western countries had warned their citizens to leave weeks before.
Fears have grown for the safety of Chinese citizens in Ukraine, with anger growing on the ground over Beijing's stance on the conflict.
China's Foreign Ministry has expressed concern for the safety of its nationals and on Thursday (March 3) said it had helped more than 3,000 evacuate.
The first two flights carrying evacuees landed back in China on Saturday, state media said.
Running the gauntlet
But many more remain stranded.
"We want to leave, but there are no cars. I'm afraid I'll be killed if I attempt to walk several hundred kilometres," Cao said, giving only a nickname.
With Ukrainian airspace shut, some Chinese have joined the desperate rush to catch trains out of the country or are risking the perilous drive to its western borders to get on flights.
A Chinese national was shot and injured on Tuesday while attempting to flee Ukraine, state media reported, without specifying who fired on him.
Cao said locals had been kind to him, offering food and shelter, but added: "I don't know how much longer I can stay in a stranger's home for free. How can I survive?"
Other Chinese have claimed they faced hostility and even physical attacks from Ukrainians angry over China's reluctance to condemn Russia, and have called for Chinese Internet users to avoid inflammatory posts.
China's Internet is frequently a forum for nationalistic, pro-government views, and many users have cheered Russian President Vladimir Putin online in comments that have made it past the Chinese censors.
But last week, China's Weibo platform deleted hundreds of misogynistic comments about "taking in Ukrainian beauties".
"Bullets won't fly out of the screen and hit you, but some inappropriate remarks may cause all of us Chinese here unnecessary trouble," a Chinese man in Kyiv who identified himself by the surname Lin said in a Weibo video uploaded on Sunday.
Lin later told AFP by phone that he was shot at by armed civilians while shopping for groceries last week, but played down local hostility as isolated incidents.
'Enormous pressure'
"The psychological pressure on us is enormous... but the embassy is actively coordinating evacuation plans which makes us feel reassured," said the 28-year-old stand-up comedian, who was in Ukraine for personal business.
He said some objectionable comments online "don't represent all Chinese people's attitudes towards the Ukraine conflict".
Lin said he would evacuate to the western city of Lviv by train on Saturday before attempting to drive to Poland. He said he refused an embassy evacuation spot because his Ukrainian girlfriend was not eligible.
Some Chinese have received little sympathy back home despite their plight.
A Chinese student in Kyiv on Tuesday posted a recording of her desperate call to an embassy staffer, who advised her to shelter in place or board a train to Lviv by herself.
She later deleted the post after being targeted by a barrage of unsympathetic posts calling her an ingrate.
Recent patriotic Chinese action movies have promoted the idea that
citizens facing danger abroad will be rescued by their country, but the
reality has been different for Cao.