Reasons for US rejection of Chinese initiative on Ukraine

The Chinese initiative to put an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war was met with complete rejection from the US and NATO.

Russian apathy towards Beijing's 12-point proposal to achieve peace in Kiev also undermined it.

China's initiative coincided with the first anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Highlights

The most prominent points of the Chinese initiative to put an end to the Russian-Ukrainian war include respect for the sovereignty of all countries, abstention from strengthening or expanding military blocs, stopping the fighting and preventing the crisis from getting out of control, promoting gradual de-escalation, reaching a comprehensive and final ceasefire, that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable way, as well as the need to avoid nuclear crises, not using biological and chemical weapons, and rejecting any unilateral sanctions not authorized by the Security Council, as stated by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on February 24.

Mahmud al-Effendi, a researcher specialized in international relations, said the Chinese proposal to resolve the Ukrainian crisis was rejected by the US and Europe because it is against American intervention, and guarantees the rejection of the Cold War, including arming countries in the face of other countries.

The same proposal, he said, speaks against entering a country into a military alliance to threaten another country, a main principle of the organization for security and peace in Europe.

A completed initiative

Effendi pointed out that the Chinese initiative is a complete and important document to end conflicts in the world.

"China knows very well that if the Ukrainian war ends with Russia's defeat, or if Washington gets rid of Russia, the next target will be Beijing itself," he told The Reference. "It also came to publicly affirm respect for the territorial integrity of countries, which implies criticizing Russia for annexing Ukrainian lands, and criticizing Washington which is working to support Taiwan's separatism militarily from China."

He believed that this can be the reason for Russia's reticence and apathy.

China's refusal to provide any specific vision of peace, he said, implies the recognition of Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territories, something Beijing wants to avoid, as it is inconceivable in the light of the current field situation.

Effendi added that the West is well aware of this, but China's announcement of such a position exposes it to sweeping Western criticism.

He concluded by saying that US Vice-President, Kamala Harris, confirmed Washington's doubts about Chinese neutrality with question marks about the reason for the rapid development of relations between the two countries since the beginning of the crisis with suspicions of Chinese plans to export weapons to Russia.