The assertion of “unlimited friendship” between China and Russia is just a rhetorical device, said Chinese Ambassador to the European Union Fu Cong, according to The New York Times.
Three weeks before the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a joint statement declaring “boundless friendship” between the two countries.
Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Cong, in an interview with the European diplomatic mission in Beijing, said that this formulation is only a rhetorical device. Fu pointed out that China does not side with Russia in the conflict in Ukraine, does not provide it with military assistance and does not recognize the inclusion of new territories in the Russian Federation, including Crimea and the Donbass.
The diplomat explained that Beijing did not condemn the special operation only because it took seriously Moscow’s statements on defense against NATO invasion, and believes that “the root causes (of the conflict ) are more complex” than Western leaders say.
“I know people are obsessed with the presidential appeal. The fact that President Xi is not talking to Zelenskyy does not mean that China is on Russia’s side on the Ukraine issue,” Fu Tsung said, quoting the NYT.
The words of the Chinese ambassador to the EU were commented on by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. He put the documented contents of those contacts between Moscow and Beijing, when the declaration of “friendship without limits” was pronounced, higher in significance than the words of Fu Cong.
“We focus on the content and spirit of the contacts that took place between Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow,” Peskov said.
He added that the context of mutual understanding between the leaders of the two countries is defined in the documents adopted at the end of these negotiations.
