“These ex-USSR countries don’t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialise their sovereign status,” Lu said.
The envoy’s claim, which suggested Beijing did not view Ukraine as a sovereign state, drew immediate condemnation in Europe and a rare retraction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Xi emphasised China’s official position on the phone call with Zelensky.
“Mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is the political foundation of China-Ukraine relations,” he said.
Xi was then uncharacteristically defensive in his official statement.
“Everything China does is above board,” he said. “Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable way forward.”
Washington and Brussels have been calling for Xi to speak to Zelensky since Putin announced the invasion just weeks after standing on a balcony with Xi during the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Xi has resisted, preferring to meet Putin in Moscow and Samarkand in Uzbekistan, while using the past year and Russia’s dwindling military fortunes to strengthen economic and diplomatic control over his northern neighbour.
At the same time, China has proposed a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine as part of its push to challenge the diplomatic primacy of the United States.
Da Wei, professor and director of the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said China was “playing an irreplaceable role some nations have failed to achieve”.
“The United States and some other Western countries have perceived the crisis as a confrontation between two blocs, and they labelled China as part of one of the blocs,” he told Chinese state media.
Da blamed that division for preventing Xi from being able to pick up the phone to Zelensky, arguing it “added difficulty to China’s communication” with Ukraine.
Li Yongquan, head of the China Society for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, said there was an economic imperative for the intervention.
“As the crisis lingers, there will be more casualties, economic recession and there will be greater threats to security in Europe and the Eurasian region,” he said.
But experts outside China are sceptical that Beijing’s newfound communication with Zelensky would achieve any real breakthrough.
“In my view, any discussion between Ukraine and China is a positive step, but there is an obstacle in China-Ukraine dialogue in that the Chinese statement maintains that negotiation aiming for a ‘political settlement’ is the only viable way forward,” Mycak said.
“But for Ukraine, a military defeat of Russia and the return of all occupied territory is the only option.”
Zelensky made it clear that he had little interest in China’s political solution and did not reference Xi’s 12-point plan.
“No one wants peace more than the Ukrainian people,” he said in a statement after the call. “There can be no peace at the expense of territorial compromises.”
Despite the differences, Mycak said it was in Zelensky’s interest to accept the call despite China’s apparent neutrality so far.
“Firstly, because in engaging in dialogue with Beijing, there is always a chance that China might alter its position somewhat,” she said.
“Secondly, because Ukraine’s established trade relationship with China has been very lucrative and if that can be further developed, Ukraine will benefit from much-needed funds for its war-ravaged economy.”
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