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| Ambassador of China to the United States Qin Gang / AFP-Yonhap |
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Characterizing reports that Beijing is inclined to provide military assistance to Russia as "disinformation," Ambassador Qin Gang said in an interview with CBS, Sunday, that Beijing was sending humanitarian aid to help those affected by the conflict that has entered a fourth week.
"What China is doing is sending food, medicine, sleeping bags and baby formula, not weapons and ammunition to any party, and we are against the war," Qin said.
Now entering its fourth week, Russia's invasion mobilized the U.S., the G7, the EU and most of Washington's allies to implement sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on some major Russian banks and enterprises from using the SWIFT financial messaging system.
The conflict has also put pressure on China, which has not condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine, to follow suit. On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned his Chinese President Xi Jinping in a two-hour virtual summit that consequences await Beijing for any support it provides to Moscow in its efforts to subdue Ukraine.
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| Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, reviews a military honor guard with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, June 8, 2018. AP-Yonhap |
Pressed to declare whether Beijing would support Russia's ability, financially, to continue its invasion of Ukraine, Qin explained that "China has normal trade, economic, financial [and] energy cooperation with Russia."
The ambassador also defended Beijing's decision to abstain from a decision by the U.N.'s International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Russia to immediately halt its military operations in Ukraine. China was one of two ICJ members not to vote for the order, along with Russia.
"China makes its observations and conclusions independently, based on the merits of the matter," Qin explained, adding that condemnation of Russia over the matter was "naive."
"China upholds the U.N. purposes and principles, including the respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine," Qin said. "On the other hand, we do see the there's a complexity in the history of Ukraine."
The Ukrainian government filed its ICJ case shortly after Russia's invasion began last month, saying that Moscow's stated justification ― that military action was needed to prevent genocide in eastern Ukraine ― was a false pretense.
