In light of the Ukrainian crisis, the Chinese authorities fear Asia may face such destabilization along the same lines as a result of Washington’s policy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
“Since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis <…> China has shared its wisdom to overcome it and has made efforts in five areas,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, according to the Foreign Ministry. “Firstly, we assist in promoting peace negotiations. <…> Furthermore, we resolutely support the fundamental principles of the development of international relations.”
The top diplomat said that Beijing’s third point characterizing its position is its opposition to Cold War methods. The fourth factor will always be “China’s protection of each state’s legitimate interests,” noted Wang Yi.
“Finally, we intend to firmly uphold peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region”, the Chinese diplomat stressed. “We fear that the US under the pretext of its so-called Indo-Pacific strategy will seek to create warring blocs in Asia and stir up trouble for the region,” he went on to say.
Beijing intends to support the Russian-Ukrainian peace process and at the same time “uphold the Asia Pacific Region’s development process,” the Chinese diplomacy chief said. “China will continue to interact with the international community <…> [and] will play a constructive role to maintain peace,” Wang Yi concluded.
Kremlin strikes back at Ukrainian attack on Belgorod fuel depot
The Ukrainian military’s airstrike on a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod is not creating “conditions for further talks” between Moscow and Kiev, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
“Clearly, it’s not what could create conditions for further talks,” he said, when asked if the incident could be viewed as an escalation of the conflict.
Peskov also pointed out that “it’s not for us at the presidential administration to provide assessments, it is professionals and law enforcement agencies that should do that.” The Kremlin official noted that Russia’s air superiority in the special military operation in Ukraine “is an absolute fact.”
The Kremlin press secretary was also asked to comment on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s remark that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him in a phone call that conditions had not been created yet for a ceasefire in Ukraine. “Everything we felt was appropriate to say at the end of the conversation, we outlined in our message. The special operation continues,’ the spokesman stressed.
On Friday, a fire broke out at a petroleum depot belonging to the Belgorodnefteprodukt company after the Ukrainian Armed Forces had carried out two airstrikes. The attack caused no casualties. The subsequent blazes that engulfed the fuel tanks prompted the local authorities announce an evacuation of residents living on three streets adjacent to the facility.
