New Delhi
\nChinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang made his first trip to India on March 1 and 2 to attend the foreign ministers\u2019 meeting of the G-20 countries. Qin had a full agenda: In addition to the G-20 discussions, his bilateral meetings were of acute interest at a time of increasing great power competition. In addition to tensions with host country India over confrontations along their disputed border, Qin also had to navigate China-U.S. uncertainties and the looming shadow of the Ukraine war.
\nQin\u2019s remarks at the G-20 meeting underlined China\u2019s priorities for the global order. First, he said, \u201cWe need to practice true multilateralism\u2026 No one should engage in power politics or even bloc confrontation.\u201d That\u2019s a recurring complaint from Chinese officials, referencing U.S. attempts to build coalitions that work together to address perceived threats from China and Russia.
\nQin also took aim at U.S. efforts to \u201cdecouple\u201d from China, which have particularly noticeable in the technology sector. \u201cWe need to promote the sound development of globalization, reject unilateralism, protectionism and attempts to decouple or sever supply chains, and ensure the stable and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains,\u201d he proclaimed.
\nFor the most part, Qin kept his brief remarks focused on the economic situation \u2013 the traditional focus of the G-20, and certainly China\u2019s preferred topic for the group to discuss, given the yawning chasm between member states on security and geopolitical issues. But he also acknowledged, \u201cGlobal development and prosperity cannot be achieved without a peaceful and stable international environment.\u201d Pointing to Xi Jinping\u2019s still nebulous \u201cGlobal Security Initiative\u201d and China\u2019s recent \u201cposition paper on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,\u201d Qin declared that \u201cChina will always stand on the side of peace, actively promote peace talks, and play a constructive role.\u201d
\nThe Ukraine war (which China calls a \u201ccrisis\u201d) figured heavily in the readout of Qin\u2019s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. That might seem obvious, but has not always been the case in the past. The Chinese readout of Xi Jinping\u2019s September 2022 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example, did not even mention Ukraine once.
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\nBy contrast, the summary of the latest China-Russia foreign minister talks devoted a whole paragraph to expounding \u201cChina\u2019s basic position on Ukraine.\u201d In fact, it was the only specific issue mentioned in the readout.
\nQin reiterated China\u2019s support for \u201call efforts that are beneficial to promoting peace talks\u201d and promised to \u201ccontinue to play a constructive role to that end.\u201d But, in keeping with what has been called China\u2019s \u201cpro-Russia neutrality,\u201d most of his comments were veiled barbs at the United States. Qin said China \u201copposes adding fuel to the fire\u201d (something China\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokespeople routinely accuse Washington of doing by providing arms to Ukraine), \u201copposes sabotaging peace talks, opposes double standards, and opposes sanctions and pressure.\u201d
\nThe Ukraine war was also on the top of the agenda for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Before arriving in New Delhi, he had visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where he stressed Russia\u2019s culpability for the economic turmoil the Ukraine war has inflicted on the world. Blinken continued that theme at the G-20 meeting, where he said that the group \u201cmust continue to call on Russia to end its war of aggression and withdraw from Ukraine for the sake of international peace and economic stability.\u201d
\nBlinken said on March 1 that he had \u201cno plans\u201d to meet with either Lavrov or Qin. He did have a brief conversation with the Russian foreign minister on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting, but there were no reports of a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang made his first trip to India on March 1 and 2 to attend the foreign ministers\u2019 meeting of the G-20 countries. Qin had a full agenda: In addition to the G-20 discussions, his bilateral meetings were of acute interest at a time of increasing great power competition. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n