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TAIPEI – Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered his most direct criticism yet of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, warning the Russian president against resorting to nuclear weapons and inviting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit to push for talks on peace
Xi’s warning comes just over a month after Putin threatened Ukraine with a nuclear strike, a sign of how far Ukrainian forces have rattled the Kremlin with their advances against invaders in the east.
The international community, Xi said, should “jointly oppose the use or threats to use nuclear weapons,” according to a statement carried by China’s state news agency Xinhua. The world should also “advocate that nuclear weapons cannot be used, nuclear war cannot be waged, to avoid a nuclear crisis” in Europe or Asia, Xi added.
The Chinese leader, who won a rule-breaking third term just weeks ago, called on Germany and Europe to “play an important role in calling for peace and facilitating negotiations.”
Xi also called for “improving the humanitarian situation” in crisis areas, especially during winter.
Still, the Chinese leader, who before the war referred to Putin as his best friend, did not stop calling for Russia to back down, a key demand for Ukraine and its Western backers. He also did not mention Putin’s refusal to honor the UN agreement to facilitate Ukraine’s grain exports, and his prime minister defended exporting Chinese grain to help ease the food crisis.
In September, Putin publicly acknowledged for the first time that Xi had “questions” and “concerns” about the war. Shortly after that meeting between the Chinese and Russian leaders, Putin upped the ante and floated the idea that nuclear weapons could be used. “To defend Russia and our people, we will certainly use all weapons resources at our disposal,” Putin said. “This is not a bluff.”
“We cannot afford any further escalation,” China’s outgoing Premier Li Keqiang told a news conference. Referring to Scholz who was by his side, Li said: “Both of us… we hope the crisis will end soon.”
Scholz wants business
Xi’s show of opposition to Putin’s nuclear threats was hailed as a major diplomatic victory by Scholz, who has faced weeks of criticism for leaning too far toward Beijing.
“We agreed that threatening nuclear attacks is irresponsible and dangerous,” Scholz told reporters, referring to his meeting with Xi. “I told President Xi the importance of China exerting its influence on Russia.”
Scholz brought with him a delegation of major companies and recently also approved a deal by a Chinese state-owned company to acquire part of a terminal in the strategic port of Hamburg.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Great Hall in Beijing | Pool photo by Kay Nietfeld via Getty Images
Indeed, during the opening remarks of his meeting with Xi, Scholz again recalled his previous career as mayor of Hamburg, while also urging Xi to deepen trade ties with Germany, the largest economy of the EU.
Scholz cited few results, other than an agreement for expatriates, not local Chinese, to take BioNTech coronavirus vaccinations in China and promised cooperation on climate change and disease prevention.
Taiwan tensions
Before the press conference ended without a single question from reporters, Scholz raised the escalating tension in the Taiwan Strait.
“Any change in Taiwan’s status quo can only come about through mutual agreement and peacefully,” he said, adding that he also raised the issue of human rights abuses against China’s Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Scholz alluded to Beijing’s economic coercion against Lithuania as the Baltic country sought closer ties with Taiwan, saying: “It is also important to be clear: economic measures against individual EU member states are they target the entire EU internal market and the sanctions against EU parliamentarians are also unacceptable to us.”
Although Scholz did not emphasize the trade focus of his trip, his Chinese host made sure to send a clear message to German companies, which China sees as an important source of stability in relations between EU and China, otherwise unstable.
“We remain ready to help Germany gain access to our market,” Premier Li told reporters at the news conference, calling for a “sound and stable” relationship with Germany. “We support a multipolar world, free trade, and we want to meet our partner on equal terms.”