Some analysts say China may not want to escalate already high tensions with the United States
\nNews Agency
\nBEIJING
\nChina and Russia set off alarms in the West this month with the most robust declaration of their friendship in decades but Beijing has signalled it would not back Vladimir Putin if he sent troops in to invade Ukraine.
\nThe February 4 joint statement by the neighbours included unprecedented support from Beijing for Moscow\u2019s opposition to the expansion of NATO, and came as Washington and its allies were warning of full-scale Russian military action against Kyiv.
\nIt was \u201cquite a quantum shift from what has been a steady intensification, elevation of the content of Russia-China declarations over the last 20 years\u201d, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd said during an online discussion co-hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank and the Asia Society.
\n\u201cIt is China becoming a global security actor in a way that I personally have not seen before.\u201d
\nChina\u2019s unusually direct position on NATO and support for Moscow\u2019s \u201creasonable\u201d security concerns have, however, placed it on a diplomatic tightrope, forcing it to balance its close Russia ties with major economic interests in Europe.
\nWith more than 150,000 troops massed on the border with Ukraine, Russia has demanded guarantees that Kyiv will never be allowed to join NATO — a position in stark contrast to China\u2019s long-standing stated foreign policy red line: no interference in other countries\u2019 internal affairs.
\nWhen asked if there was a contradiction, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference via video link Saturday that the sovereignty of all nations should be respected.
\n\u201cUkraine is no exception,\u201d he said.
\nThat position was tested in just two days.
\nRussian President Putin on Monday recognised two \u201crepublics\u201d in Ukraine held by pro-Moscow separatist rebels, and ordered the deployment of troops there.
\nThe United States and its allies blasted Russia for violating the sovereignty of Ukraine at an emergency UN Security Council meeting, but China was circumspect, urging restraint by \u201call sides\u201d.
\nPutin has \u201cdenied the territorial independence and sovereignty — indeed, the very existence — of Ukraine\u201d, Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to NATO, wrote on Twitter.
\n\u201cBoth were core… (tenets) of China\u2019s approach to the crisis. Putin has blown both to bits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some analysts say China may not want to escalate already high tensions with the United States News Agency BEIJING China and Russia set off alarms in the West this month with the most robust declaration of their friendship in decades but Beijing has signalled it would not back Vladimir Putin if he sent troops in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-245963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n