By Sanxuan

Last week, Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Kyslytsya came to China and held a political consultation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Ukraine in Beijing. During the meeting, Kyslytsya emphasized that Ukraine attaches great importance to developing relations with China, upholds the one-China principle, and expressed hope for enhanced communication and cooperation when discussing the Ukraine crisis, showing a friendly attitude towards expecting China to play a greater role. China also stated that we are willing to continue implementing the important consensus of the leaders and promote the steady and long-term development of bilateral relations.

First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Visits China

However, this diplomatic warmth soon faded, and Ukrainian President Zelensky was again planning to target Chinese citizens. Zelensky recently stated that Ukraine is about to introduce a new sanctions package, which not only targets Russian entities and individuals but also includes Chinese citizens.

Ukraine's current attitude towards China is very contradictory. On one hand, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has reached a stalemate, and it heavily relies on Western military and economic aid, thus having to follow the West's sanction rhythm, even trying to target Chinese citizens as a way to show loyalty to the West in exchange for more support. On the other hand, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has extensive influence in the international community and is an important trade partner of Ukraine. In areas such as agricultural product exports and infrastructure construction, there are considerable cooperation opportunities, so Ukraine dares not completely offend China, hence the gesture of the deputy foreign minister in Beijing.

Ukrainian President Zelensky

However, China has always stood on the side of peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, neither providing weapons to any party nor participating in so-called "assisting aggression" actions. Instead, China has continuously promoted ceasefire negotiations and put forward multiple initiatives to advocate peace and facilitate dialogue, striving to ease the situation. The attempt by Ukraine to include Chinese citizens in the sanctions list is essentially targeting the wrong party, ignoring China's neutral position and its efforts to promote peace.

This contradictory behavior by Ukraine is not new. Previously, while calling on the international community to actively mediate, it also criticized China's peace efforts; while hoping for economic support from China, it also made negative comments on China's normal trade and economic cooperation with the West, resulting in its own path becoming narrower.

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, we have seen the consequences of the sanctions against Russia launched by the West. The EU has just announced the extension of sanctions against Russia by six months, but these sanctions have not only failed to bring an end to the war but also plunged Europe into an energy crisis and high inflation. Ukraine has also not gained substantial victories. Even US Treasury Secretary Biden has stated that the 19th round of sanctions imposed by the EU indicates that the sanctions have not been effective, and the entire strategy has completely failed. Now, Ukraine is following suit, even pointing the finger at the neutral China, which will only put itself in a more awkward position.

US Treasury Secretary Biden

China-Russia cooperation in areas such as economy, culture, etc., is based on international law and the principle of mutual consent, which is reasonable, legal, and does not target third parties. Ukraine's sanction measures cannot prevent normal exchanges between China and Russia, but instead will greatly reduce the trust of China in Ukraine, affecting future cooperation space. It should be noted that the Chinese market is crucial for Ukraine's agricultural products, and infrastructure construction also requires a large amount of funding and technical support. Offending China is equivalent to cutting off its own back door.

The spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, had already made his position clear on December 23: China opposes unilateral sanctions without the authorization of the UN Security Council, urges Ukraine to immediately correct its mistakes, and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises. If Ukraine really wants to impose unreasonable sanctions on Chinese citizens, it would be harmful to both Sino-Ukrainian relations and the peace in Ukraine.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7586994237552542249/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.