中文
Chinese President Xi Jinping has a video call with U.S. President Joe Biden at the latter's request, in Beijing, China, March 18, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
By John Gong
The much-anticipated video call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden took place on the evening of March 18. The White House issued a very terse press release. I was told by an international relations expert that every time the American side issued something terse for an occasion like this, it usually comes with a positive outcome.
The official Chinese version of the event, presumably the report by Xinhua news agency, is a lengthy one. There are several key messages worth highlighting here.
Most important of all, it contains a paragraph of the statement from President Biden, and in addition, another paragraph of what President Xi reiterated exactly what Biden has said. In other words, the following is repeated twice in the Xinhua report, once by Biden and once by Xi quoting Biden:
"The U.S. does not seek a new Cold War with China; it does not aim to change China's system; the revitalization of its alliances is not targeted at China; the U.S. does not support 'Taiwan independence'; and it has no intention to seek a conflict with China."
Being mentioned twice in this historic conversation underscores the importance of this set of commitments. Biden's reiteration, on the part of the United States, clearly serves as the foundation for any possibility of cooperation between the two countries, especially at a critical moment in light of the conflict in Ukraine.
President Xi also brought up the issue that the agreement reached in their last virtual meeting in November has not been thoroughly followed through by some individuals on the U.S. side.
In terms of China's stance on the Ukraine matter, several new points were reported. First, Xi indicated that the United States and China, being the two members of the UN Security Council and two largest economies, do have the international obligation to strive for world peace and stability.
China has proposed solutions to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and is willing to contribute more. China, together with other countries, supports the negotiation effort for a peaceful solution. The White House press release also mentions that "the President underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis." It, therefore, appears that China and the U.S. are on the same page over this issue.
Nevertheless, Xi also proposes that the United States and NATO should have direct dialogue with Russia to address the security concerns of Russia and Ukraine. It is not known what Washington's response is on that proposal.
When it comes to sanctions, it appears that China will have some pushback against Washington's recent coercive rhetoric. But certainly, it doesn't mean that China would be on the Russian side either. Xi said that all-around and undifferentiated sanctions would only hurt ordinary people, and, if further escalated, would lead to a severe global crisis in trade, finance, energy, food, and production-supply chain networks.
It's worth noting that the White House press release said that Biden "described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia..." The definition of "material support" seems to be a key point here.
Would maintaining normal trade relations with Russia, as many other countries have done, including India, Turkey, Brazil and other major economies, qualify as "material support"? I'd assume that what the White House calls "material support" is possibly to mean the provision of military equipment. This rhetoric was first diffused by a Financial Times report. But China has already refuted it and said that such an intention based on quoting anonymous Pentagon sources is pure disinformation.
As President Xi articulated in the video call, whatever the circumstances, there is always a need for political courage to create space for peace and leave room for a political settlement. One solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict should be based on negotiations, not sanctions as the latter only leads to a deterioration in the current situation and make local people suffer.
The author is a professor at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing and a research fellow at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at UIBE.
