(Photo : HOW HWEE YOUNG)
CHINA-RUSSIA-APEC
Russian and Chinese national flags are seen on the table with Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the background during a signing ceremony at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on November 9, 2014. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin promised ever closer cooperation November 9 as they met for the 10th time in less than two years. AFP PHOTO/POOL/HOW HWEE YOUNG (Photo credit should read HOW HWEE YOUNG/AFP via Getty Images)
According to a Western intelligence report, China requested that Vladimir Putin postpone any invasion of Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics.
It shows that Chinese authorities were aware of Mr. Putin's plans before he carried them out. The claim was dismissed by Beijing as "baseless conjecture" and an "effort to malign China." According to a Western diplomat, the article does not specify if Putin and Xi Jinping discussed the topic or some of their officials.
China Refuses To Sanction Russia Amid Illegal Ukraine Invasion
On February 20, the Olympic closing ceremony took place. Putin recognized two separate regions in Ukraine the next day and dispatched troops to assist rebels. Then, on February 24, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, Russia and China declared there were "no 'forbidden' sectors of cooperation" in a joint statement. China's attitude on the crisis is equivocal, and government officials have declined to denounce Russia or label it as an "invasion."
However, there were signals on Wednesday that Beijing's backing for Moscow's war was dwindling. For the first time, China Daily, a state-run news agency, used the phrase "invasion." The term was eventually removed from China Daily's online report, but it was left in a Twitter message.
Its foreign minister voiced "alarm" at civilian deaths in Ukraine. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba over the phone late Tuesday. Beijing has yet to denounce Russia's strike, and no government officials have used the word "invasion" to describe it. China attempted to separate itself from the worldwide condemnation of Putin's conduct at first.
China voted no on a resolution criticizing the invasion at the United Nations General Security Council last week. It did the same thing in the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, when it was one of 35 nations to vote no on a resolution condemning Russia's "aggression against Ukraine," Telegraph reported.
West Countries Doubt Putin's Invasion After Olympics Was a Coincidence
China said on Wednesday that it would not consider sanctioning Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine and that it would continue with "normal trade cooperation." China also abstained from voting on a nonbinding resolution calling on Russia to end its war in Ukraine and withdraw its military forces at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
Only five countries - Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria - voted against the motion, which received 141 yes votes. According to Ukraine's State Emergency Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a "special military operation" last week, and Ukraine has been subjected to seven days of horrific battle, with 2,000 Ukrainians and 5,000 Russian soldiers killed, as per Fox News.
On February 20, China hosted the Olympic closing ceremony. After state media televised a meeting between Putin and his national security council and, separately, a heated speech in which he stated Ukraine should be a part of Russia, Putin ordered additional Russian forces to invade an insurgent-controlled territory of eastern Ukraine the next day. The Russian military launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, including strikes on cities with ballistic missiles, artillery, and tanks.
Officials from the United States and Europe have stated that they find it difficult to accept that Putin's invasion began shortly after the Olympics. During the Summer Olympics in Beijing in August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, angering some Chinese authorities.
In preparation for the invasion, Russia transferred military forces from its border with China and other regions of the east to Ukraine and Belarus this winter. The moves revealed that Russian and Chinese officials had a high level of confidence.
For years, China and Russia have been bolstering their economic, political, and military relations. Before their most recent conclave in Beijing, Xi and Putin met 37 times as national leaders, per New York Times.
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