Beijing Vows To Promote Ukraine Peace Talks, Warns Against Comparisons To Taiwan

China will promote peace talks on Ukraine and rejects attempts to equate the situation with the Taiwan question, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang said during the ongoing meeting of G20 ministers in Bali.

• Xinhua ran a story covering Wang's comments in his meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, where he highlighted three main points summarising China's stance on the situation in Ukraine:
  1. opposition to attempts to incite "Cold War thinking" and "bloc confrontation"
  2. opposition to double standards that undermine China's "sovereignty and territorial integrity"
  3. opposition to undermining other countries' right to development
• "Some countries have used the Ukraine crisis as an excuse to abuse unilateral sanctions on China and other countries, which is neither justified nor legal," Xinhua cites Wang as saying.
• In a separate report, Xinhua reported that Wang told his Russian counterpart Lavrov that Beijing will maintain its "objective and just" position on the Ukraine situation, focusing on de-escalating conflict by promoting peace talks.
• Overall, Wang's comments did not mark any notable shift in official rhetoric surrounding Russian invasion of Ukraine, with China still demonstrating self-declared commitment to a negotiated peaceful outcome and pushing back against Western actions, while stopping short of criticising Russia.