Posted on 04/14/2023 6:29:16 AM PDT by Cronos
China will not sell weapons to either side in the Ukraine war, the country’s foreign minister has said, amid Western fears Beijing was considering providing military assistance to Russia.
Beijing has backed Russia politically, rhetorically and economically since the invasion began, yet officially it has maintained it is neutral in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Western nations have imposed sanctions on Russia and sought to isolate the country following its invasion of its neighbour.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday alongside visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, Quin Gang said: “Regarding the export of military items, China adopts a prudent and responsible attitude.
“China will not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict, and manage and control the exports of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations.”
He also reiterated China’s willingness to find a peaceful resolution to the war and called for all parties to be “objective and calm”.
Mr Quin is the most senior Chinese official to have made an explicit statement on arms sales to Russia yet.
It comes after heightened fears that China was considering supplying arms and ammunition to Moscow.
In February, Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, claimed to have intelligence to this effect – which China has denied.
Mr Blinken warned that any such development would be “a serious problem”.
Recent days have seen similar warnings from European leaders, with the foreign policy chief of the EU saying China’s support of Russia amid the invasion was “a blatant violation” of its UN commitments.
Ms Baerbock asked why “Chinese positioning so far” did not include “a call for the aggressor, Russia, to stop the war”.
“We all know that President (Vladimir) Putin would have the opportunity to do so at any time, and the people in Ukraine would like nothing more than to finally be able to live in peace again,” she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, both visited Beijing last week to appeal to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s good faith in helping to end the war in Ukraine.
During the visit, Mr Macron said that he could rely on Mr Xi to “bring Russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table”, and urged his Chinese counterpart to have some face time with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Last month, Mr Xi and Mr Putin referred to each other as “dear friend” when they met at the Kremlin for talks.
China’s defence minister is planning to visit Russia next week for meetings with his counterpart and other military officials.
Yeah,
Can’t really believe anything you hear.
The media is biased. Politicians lie. The bureaucracy is politicized and not objective. We practice wide spread (Soviet style but civilian administered) censorship today. Government hides behind secrecy.
Who knows, right?
It’s to the point where you can watch, listen and read the news 8 hours straight and it’s really questionable if you have any more “real” information than someone watching re-runs of Hanna Montana.
Sell? No. Return to Russia weapons they’ve purchased from them over the years, yes.
They’ll send them through another country
In other words, the check is in the mail. Is this sort of like the (b)administration telling us there are NO U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine? (Seems like something similar happened back in oh the mid 50’s with “advisors” helping out in Viet Nam IIRC. But, it’s all okay.)
Give, not sell.
That means they will. Commiespeak
Maybe they could call their weapons program something else...like, say, “lend-lease.”
We trade...gas for weapons...no receipt...
Uh-huh.
Gratis
I’ve seen footage of a whole lot of DJI drones in use by both sides.
Saw a report yesterday that Russia is now renovating WWII era T-34s. If true, they are running out of tanks.
the problem is that they depends on the west for the electronics to run the tanks
It means that they are saving it for Taiwan!
The United States and her NATO allies are emptying their military might into Ukraine and China sits back a watches, while increasing their military spending and building up their stockpiles of weapons, men, intelligence, superiority and getting ready to pounce at the optimal time...a time before the anti-American fascist world order Biden regime leaves office.
Exactly. That was the first thing that I thought of.
China has to keep its stocks for its wars on Taiwan and the USA.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/13/russia-china-weapons-leaked-documents-discord/
China approved “provision of lethal aid” to Russia in its war in Ukraine earlier this year and planned to disguise military equipment as civilian items, according to a U.S. intercept of Russian intelligence revealed in leaked secret documents.
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