China is “deeply concerned” that the Ukraine conflict could spiral out of control, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday and called on the US and its allies to stop equating Russia's military aggression in the European nation with Beijing's claims over Taiwan.
Beijing has so far not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The US has warned China that it would impose strict sanctions if it provided military support to Russia.
China views Taiwan, a self-ruled island, as a rebel province that should be reunified with the mainland, even by force.
“It has been a year since the Ukraine crisis has escalated in an all-round way, and the situation has attracted international attention,” Qin said.
“The Chinese side is deeply concerned about the escalating conflict and potential for developments to spiral out of control," the minister said.
China will continue to promote peace talks, provide Chinese wisdom for a comprehensive solution to the Ukraine issue, and work with the international community to promote dialogue and consultation to address the concerns of all parties to seek common security, Qin said.
“At the same time, we urge relevant countries to immediately stop adding fuel to the fire, stop blaming China and stop provoking the situation by using references like "Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow," Qin said.
His comments came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said China was “considering providing lethal support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine and cautioned Beijing against supplying weapons to Moscow.
Blinken spoke on the close ties between China-Russia as China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday, his last stop on a nine-day European tour during which he was expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island Taiwan as part of it, has become increasingly sensitive about the comparisons between Russian territorial claims over Ukraine as well as its stance on Taipei, especially after Putin failed to secure a quick victory, which many analysts pointed out hold a lesson for China’s plans for a military takeover of Taiwan.
On Monday, the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he told Wang in Munich over the weekend that China would be crossing a "red line" if it supplied arms to Moscow.
Beijing, on its part, has denied any plans to supply weapons to Russia and instead accused the US of providing arms to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Qin, who released a concept paper on the Global Security Initiative (GSI) mooted by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, also spoke of attempts to suppress China, threatening its sovereignty and warned that “without China's security, there will be no world security”.
In his speech detailing the importance of the GSI concept at a meeting attended by diplomats and intellectuals, Qin claimed since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, China's position has always been based on right and wrong and has abided by objectivity and fairness.
“Similarly, without China's security, there will be no world security”, he said adding that, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people are comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernisation.
“However, the external suppression and containment of China has been continuously escalated and intensified, posing a serious threat to China's sovereignty and security”, he said in an apparent reference to deepening strategic conflict and rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
“We resolutely oppose all forms of hegemonism and power politics, resolutely oppose the Cold War mentality and confrontation between camps, resolutely oppose any external forces interfering in China's internal affairs, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, development interests, and international fairness and justice,” he said.
China has been critical of the Quad alliance between the US, India, Japan and Australia and the AUKUS grouping of the US, UK, and Australia, which it alleges were aimed at containing its rise.
While linking China’s security with that of the world and the centrality of its sovereignty, Qin, however, said security is the right of all countries in the world, not the exclusive patent of certain countries, let alone individual countries.
“The global security initiative serves the interests of people all over the world and maintains the peace of people all over the world. It requires the solidarity and cooperation of the international community to jointly promote it. China will adhere to five principles,” he said.
Qin said countries in the world today are facing multiple risks and challenges that are rarely seen in history, and human society is caught in unprecedented multiple security dilemmas.
"What kind of security concept does the world need, and how do all countries achieve common security" has become the topic of the times before everyone, he said.
President Xi proposed the Global Security Initiative, adhering to a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, and advocating a new security path, featuring dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than alliance, and win-win rather than zero-sum, he said.
So far, more than 80 countries and regional organisations have expressed their appreciation and support for the GSI, he added.
The GSI paper said China actively promotes dialogue to resolve hotspot issues peacefully and supports the parties involved in the issue to resolve disputes through dialogue and resolve differences through consultation, promote the international community to uphold fairness and justice, "cool down" hot spots, and "relax pressure" on crises.
It also called for cooperation to share trans-boundary rivers, which assumes significance in light of India and Bangladesh's concerns over China constructing dams over the Brahmaputra as they could result in restricting water supply to the riparian countries.
“Call on upstream and downstream countries along transboundary rivers to actively engage in international cooperation, resolve relevant disputes through dialogue and consultation, ensure the safety of the shipping on transboundary rivers, rationally utilise and protect water resources, and protect the ecological environment of transboundary rivers”, it said.
The paper said China firmly supports the core role of UN security governance to prevent wars and conflicts, build peace structures, and promote post-war reconstruction, and support the UN in playing a greater role in international security affairs.
It called for effectively responding to traditional and non-traditional security challenges. Commit to global strategic stability, oppose arms race, prevent the risk of nuclear war, work together to fight against the epidemic, cooperate against terrorism, and jointly maintain data security, biosecurity, and supply chain technology chain stability.
It also backed multilateralism, actively carrying out bilateral and multilateral security cooperation with countries around the world and international and regional organisations and called for leveraging the roles of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS mechanism.