China’s efforts to mediate the Ukrainian crisis have attracted much attention.

　　As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continued and the pressure from the international community doubled, the leaders of China and the United States made a video call on Friday to discuss what role big countries should play. Recently, Jiang Yang, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies, published a signed article on the crisis between China and Ukraine twice in the internationally renowned media Diplomatic Scholar, focusing on international hot topics such as China’s involvement in mediating the Ukrainian crisis and promoting the peace process. In an interview with this reporter, Jiang Yang said that China has been striving to play the role of a responsible big country in the Ukrainian crisis and actively participated in mediation, which has attracted much attention; China’s previous diplomatic mediation efforts and experience in international conflicts set a precedent for its involvement in the mediation of the Ukrainian situation.

　　China actively participated in mediating the Russian-Ukrainian war.

　　Jose borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said recently that only China can mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Some scholars on international issues also put forward China’s contributions, including convening an emergency G20 summit, providing humanitarian assistance and supporting Ukrainian reconstruction, which triggered heated discussions in the international community.

　　Jiang Yang believes that China has always played a responsible role as a big country in the Ukrainian crisis, and China’s efforts to mediate this crisis are remarkable. Before the military conflict broke out between Russia and Ukraine, China advocated the negotiation based on the Minsk II Agreement in 2015 and the Normandy model in which France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine participated. After the tension escalated into a military conflict, China called for direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. On February 25th, Putin agreed to hold high-level talks with Ukraine during a telephone conversation with the Supreme Leader of president, China. This is an example of China’s constructive role after the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis. The density of calls between the Chairman of the Supreme Leader and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian, Ukrainian and European leaders is rare, and perhaps only the handling of the COVID-19 epidemic can be compared in the near future.

　　Jiang Yang said that China’s position on this conflict has always been to advocate peaceful opposition to war, to judge from the merits of the matter itself, to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and to address the legitimate security concerns of all parties. China emphasizes that the situation in Ukraine is not what China wants and the sovereignty of all countries, including Ukraine, should be respected. China regrets that Ukraine has become a battlefield for great power competition, and has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and has indicated that it will further provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and other affected countries. At the same time, China criticized some practices of the United States to escalate the conflict, and believed that in order to solve the Ukrainian issue, NATO led by the United States must abandon the Cold War mentality. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Blinken that China encouraged the United States, NATO, the European Union and Russia to have equal dialogue. China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying explained this position well.

　　Jiang Yang wrote in the article that China understands Russia’s security concerns and hopes that Europe can establish a balanced, effective and sustainable new security mechanism, which is conducive to Europe’s strategic independence and can solve many security concerns including Russia for a long time. Jiang Yang believes that China’s unprecedented active mediation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict shows that China is trying to prevent the Ukrainian war from escalating, so as to avoid sacrificing more civilian lives and maintain global economic stability and world peace.

　　Chinese mediation embodies the principle of responsible big country.

　　Jiang Yang believes that China has always followed the principle of being a responsible big country in international affairs, and there are many precedents for mediating international conflicts in recent years. Since the Darfur war in 2003, especially since the Libyan crisis broke out in 2011, China has played an increasingly important role in international conflict mediation.

　　According to China’s main practices and achievements in mediating international conflicts in the past, Jiang Yang believes that there are three main ways of Chinese mediation:

　　First, put forward a solution or road map to the conflict at the United Nations. Although China’s mediation is mainly to promote dialogue between the parties to the conflict and stop military actions, China has also put forward a road map or draft for peaceful settlement of conflicts in the past. For example, in response to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in 2021, China, then the rotating presidency of the Security Council, advocated a ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, UN Security Council actions and a "two-state solution". Negotiations between the parties to an international conflict on solving problems are often deadlocked at the level of implementation of the provisions. A joint task force composed of countries that are "friendly" to both sides and authorized by the United Nations can make the supervision mechanism more neutral and credible. China is the country with the largest number of peacekeepers among the permanent members of the UN Security Council and the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations. Since 1990, China has accumulated rich experience in United Nations peacekeeping operations and won the trust of the international community.

　　Second, send special envoys to promote peace talks. China has the experience of sending special envoys to conflict areas. In 2013, violent conflict broke out in South Sudan, and China sent a special envoy to the country. In 2016, when tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia escalated, China sent a special envoy to the two countries. In January, 2022, China announced that it would appoint a special envoy for Horn of Africa affairs to help Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia achieve peace and development in conflict-torn areas.

　　Third, promote talks at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. In the past conflict mediation, China has always adhered to the coordinated position of the United Nations in resolving international conflicts, believing that the Security Council is the ultimate international mechanism to deal with issues related to world peace.

　　The significance of Sino-Russian economic cooperation to the Russian-Ukrainian war has been exaggerated.

　　After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, there have been many doubts in the international community that China is seemingly neutral, but in fact it is supporting the Russian war by refusing sanctions and strengthening economic cooperation. In this regard, Jiang Yang believes that opposing unilateral economic sanctions is China’s consistent practice, and this time it is unlikely to be an exception; As for the influence of Sino-Russian economic cooperation on the war, it has been artificially exaggerated.

　　Jiang Yang analyzed that in the short term, the economic support that China can provide to Russia is limited, which has little impact on the resources needed for its military operations. Russia mainly exports oil, natural gas and grain, while the west has largely exempted sanctions on these products. She further made it clear that China could not make up for the losses caused by western sanctions. Although China and Russia are important economic partners, it is the European countries in the OECD that import 48% of Russian oil and 72% of Russian natural gas (taking 2020 as an example). At present, Europe has not complied with the U.S. ban on Russian oil and gas. Even if Europe has complied, China will not be the only or biggest buyer, and its economic influence on Russia is not as some public opinion thinks.

　　From a macro perspective, the escalation or prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine will bring chaos to the international capital market, supply chain and global economy. Jiang Yang believes that China is currently in a critical period of economic restructuring, and China’s economy is in urgent need of recovery after the COVID-19 epidemic. At present, China does not want to see this chaotic situation. On the one hand, the United States and the European Union are China’s most important markets and investors, and the European Union is China’s largest trading partner. China will strive to maintain normal relations with the European Union and its member States. China still hopes that Europe will become a pole in the emerging multipolar world and become more independent strategically. On the other hand, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may make China’s strategic judgment on the current world order more firm, believing that the current world order is characterized by the determination of the West led by the United States to maintain its dominant position, while China will strive to strengthen its own construction in an unfavorable international environment.

　　Finally, Jiang Yang said that the video dialogue between Chinese and American leaders showed the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the relations between major powers and the global pattern, and also reflected the positions and attitudes of the two sides towards the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. China’s active mediation will bring positive energy to the settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, set an example for the participants in international relations in the new era, and bring new hope to global peace and economic recovery.

　　(Reporter Helsinki, March 19 th, reporter Zhang Zhiyong in Helsinki)