China Releases Ukraine Peace Plan After Envoy’s Moscow Visit
Beijing has a plan.
Just a day on from Wang Yi's overtly cordial face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow+, China released a 12-point blueprint ostensibly aimed at facilitating a "political settlement" to the war in Ukraine.
This wasn't unexpected. Beijing previously indicated its intention to put forth a proposal by the end of the week. Xi is attempting to present himself as a peacemaker and a global statesman par excellence, amid increasingly urgent exhortations from the Biden admi
China does not represent a legitimate neutral honest broker. All the large global and regional players are not viable as honest brokers.
Did I miss the section about holding those who’ve committed egregious war crimes accountable…?
Agreed, where does this “plan” have China enforce (via Russian complete withdrawl)
“The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld”?
(unless they’re saying Putin’s crazy claim that Ukraine has always been part of Russia is the only one that matters?)
There’s zero mention of borders, territory, troop withdrawal, or what any kind of peace treaty would look like. All this is is a call for a ceasefire packed in the middle of a bunch of generalities. Honestly, the call for a ceasefire is the only concrete thing here, and even that is nebulously worded. This is the most bland, empty, generic document I could imagine.
I am surprised China isn’t leaning harder on Russia, as part of mending China-Europe relations. It seems to me that China has Russia in a headlock, isolated and dependent on sales to China at steep discounts.