Ukraine envoy offers support for one-China principle in Beijing talks

Ambassador Pavlo Riabikin said Kyiv was willing to strengthen cooperation with Beijing in meeting with Chinese foreign vice-minister
China and Russia held talks in Moscow the same day, exchanging views on strategic cooperation, Brics and other international and regional issues

Ukraine war

Laura Zhou

Published: 6:00pm, 30 Jan 2024

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Ukraine’s ambassador in Beijing has expressed support for the one-China principle – which states that Taiwan is part of China – and said Kyiv was willing to boost cooperation with Beijing.

Pavlo Riabikin, the Ukrainian envoy, made the remarks in a meeting with Chinese foreign vice-minister Sun Weidong in Beijing on Monday.

“Ukraine attaches great importance to the development of relations with China, has consistently adhered to the one-China principle, and is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese side,” Riabikin said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

In response, Sun said the two countries had maintained steady diplomatic relations since ties were established 32 years ago. He said they should “take a long-term view, respect each other, treat each other in good faith and promote stable and far-reaching bilateral relations”.

The Chinese readout also said the two sides had “exchanged views on issues of common concern, including the Ukraine crisis”.

Chinese foreign vice-minister Sun Weidong said China and Ukraine should “take a long-term view, respect each other, treat each other in good faith”. Photo: Reuters

The meeting took place the same day China and Russia held their first talks of the year, in Moscow.

Ma Zhaoxu, another Chinese foreign vice-minister, and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ryabkov had a “substantive” discussion on a range of issues including international security, arms control and non-proliferation, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

A Chinese foreign ministry statement on Tuesday said Ma had an “in-depth exchange of views with the Russian side on China-Russia relations, strategic cooperation, their respective external relations, the maintenance of strategic stability, cooperation under Brics and other international and regional issues”.

Noting that the two countries will mark 75 years of diplomatic ties in 2024, Ma told Ryabkov that “China is willing to work with Russia … to push forward new developments” in the relationship.

Beijing’s ties with Moscow and Kyiv have been tested since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

As the war rages on, a top diplomatic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters last week that Ukraine had invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to join other world leaders at a “peace summit” in Switzerland.

“We are definitely inviting China to participate in the summit, at the highest level, at the level of the president of the People’s Republic of China,” Ihor Zhovkva was quoted as saying.

“China’s participation will be very important to us. We are working with the Chinese side. We involve our partners in the world so that they convey to the Chinese side how important it is to participate in such a summit.”

Switzerland is hosting the summit at the request of Zelensky, but no date or venue has been announced.

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China has sought to portray itself as neutral on the war in Ukraine, but its growing strategic coordination with Russia and a reluctance to condemn Putin has drawn scrutiny from the West.

The war has prompted sanctions, export controls and energy price caps in a Western-led effort to isolate Russia. It has also fuelled speculation that Taiwan – the self-governed island Beijing has vowed to bring under its control – could become the next Ukraine.

This month’s election of independence-minded candidate William Lai Ching-te as the island’s president is expected to raise tensions after Beijing warned that a Lai victory could create a dangerous situation across the Taiwan Strait.

Most countries, including the US and Ukraine, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to arm Taiwan.

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Riabikin, who was previously Ukraine’s strategic industries minister, was appointed as Ukraine’s ambassador to China in April last year following a phone conversation between Zelensky and Xi. It was the first and only time the two leaders have spoken since the war broke out.

Beijing released a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion last February. It calls for a ceasefire, a political settlement through dialogue, for the “Cold War mentality” to be abandoned, an end to Western sanctions against Russia, and it warns against the use of nuclear weapons. But there is no call for a withdrawal of Russian troops, or any detailed proposals to end the conflict.