The Chinese Foreign Ministry asserted Tuesday “all sides” in the Russian invasion of Ukraine “attached high importance” to the ongoing Chinese diplomat tour of Europe allegedly seeking to end the war, a claim undermined by the apparent lack of enthusiasm in Russia and Ukraine about the trip.
Li Hui, a senior Chinese diplomat and former ambassador to Russia, is leading his second round of “shuttle diplomacy” since the Russian government began its “special military operation” to recolonize Ukraine. Li and his team have stopped in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and France since he left China on March 2, engaging in meetings with senior officials in each state on the status of the war. In Russia, Li received plaudits for trying – and an earful condemning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace formula, which requires Russia to return conquered Ukrainian lands to his country. In Ukraine, Li received pressure for China to do something about evidence of North Korean weapons being used by the Russian military and to encourage Moscow to return children abducted from disputed territories.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced in February that Li would travel to Europe to spread “China’s wisdom” and make meaningful contributions to ending the war. The tour is a sequel to a similar round of “shuttle diplomacy” in May 2023 that resulted from a phone conversation between Zelensky and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, one of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s closest partners on the world stage.
In May, China encouraged Ukraine to “build up trust” with Russia as Russia continued its attempt to colonize large percentages of Ukrainian land.
“Special Representative Li Hui laid out China’s position and proposals on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at the time. “There is no panacea for defusing the crisis. All parties need to do their part to build up trust and create conditions for ceasefire and peace talks.”
Li’s first tour did not result in talks between Ukraine and Russia or any notable changes to the state of the war. Similarly, in the past nearly two weeks of Chinese intervention, neither side offered any commitments to move forward with new talks or negotiate a definitive end to the conflict, reports from state media in both countries indicated. Discussion of China’s “political settlement” plan for the Russian invasion – a vague series of suggestions that include asking both countries to “calm down as soon as possible” – appeared nearly entirely absent this month.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry nonetheless attempted to tout the tour as a significant diplomatic achievement on Tuesday.
“He [Li Hui] held talks with relevant parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, had in-depth exchanges of views, and traveled intensively to mediate among different parties and convey information,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. “All sides attached high importance to Special Representative Li Hui’s visit and commended China’s effort of promoting talks for peace.”
Wang insisted that China “has always followed an objective and impartial position and worked to build consensus for ending the conflict and pave the way for peace talks.” China is one of Russia’s closest allied countries and regularly supports Putin’s political agenda at the United Nations. Ukraine, however, also maintained friendly ties with China prior to the Russian full-scale invasion and is a member of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a Chinese debt-trap scheme in which Beijing traps poor countries under crushing debt with loans meant to be used on infrastructure projects.
Wang lectured Russia and Ukraine to “show political will, deescalate the situation and make concerted efforts for an early ceasefire and a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture.”
The Chinese state propaganda newspaper Global Times declared that the country’s meddling in the conflict “demonstrates China’s sense of responsibility in the region,” comparing its ineffective intervention favorably to support for Ukraine from America and “other Western countries.”
“This renewed effort could pave the way for a breakthrough in the negotiations,” one of the Global Times‘ state-approved “experts,” researcher Zhang Hong, reportedly said.
The Chinese “shuttle diplomacy” tour received lukewarm praise in Russia, which expressed appreciation for Beijing’s “interest in and attention to” the conflict.
“Mr. Li Hiu’s [sic] current visit to Western Europe, as well as to Russia, shows that China is not standing still but is trying to do its best to promote peaceful settlement,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the Russian news agency TASS on March 5. Rudenko called the Chinese alleged peace plan “rather interesting.”
On Thursday, Li and the Chinese delegation met senior members of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, who complained of North Korean involvement in the war and encouraged China to advocate for Ukrainian civilians before Russia.
“We value our partnership with China and hope that today’s talks will be another step towards deepening and strengthening our relations,” Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak said of the meeting, according to the state outlet Ukrinform.
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