By Shannon Tiezzi
China has stopped voicing support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which could set a dangerous precedent.
U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi spoke on the phone today, with the Ukraine crisis at the top of agenda. According to Reuters, a statement from the White House said that Rice and Yang “agreed that the United States and China share an interest in supporting efforts to identify a peaceful resolution to the ongoing dispute between Russia and Ukraine that is based on respect for international law and upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The report in Xinhua had a rather different tone. The brief article pointedly did not include the word “agreed.” Instead, the article simply said that “Rice briefed Yang on the U.S. view and position. Yang, for his part, expounded China’s principled stand on Ukraine’s situation.” There’s no agreement implied in Xinhua’s write-up—a marked contrast from statements on Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s conversation with his Russian counterpart. Although China didn’t go quite as far as the Russian Foreign Ministry did in noting the “coincidence of positions,” FM spokesman Qin Gang did mention that “Both believe that a proper settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is of vital importance to regional peace and stability.” The absence of a similar admission of agreement, however anodyne, regarding Rice and Yang’s conversation is telling.
Interestingly, the Xinhua write-up did not even include a mention of China’s support for the Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, even though Foreign Ministry spokespeople have previously offered such comments. A March 2 statement by Qin Gang affirmed China’s “respect [for] the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat