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China parroting Russian propaganda; Xi-Putin in marriage of convenience: US
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, John Kirby, the national security council coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters that the two sides had said that the purposes and principles of the UN charter must be observed and international must be respected
Hours after China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow, the United States (US) slammed their “marriage of convenience”, said China was not an “impartial actor” on Ukraine but was parroting Russian propaganda, and declared that if Russia wanted to observe the United Nations charter, it should leave Ukraine immediately. Washington also accused both countries of wanting to change the rules of the game by challenging the existing rules-based order.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, John Kirby, the national security council coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters that the two sides had said that the purposes and principles of the UN charter must be observed and international must be respected. “Well, we agree. Following the UN Charter would mean that Russia should withdraw from all the territory inside Ukraine, the territory of another member state of the UN, a member that it has invaded.”
He also referred to the China-Russia joint statement’s call for “cessation of hostilities” that contribute to escalation of tensions and hostility. “We agree. One way to stop the hostilities is to pull Russian troops out of Ukraine. But short of that, Mr. Putin could stop bombing hospitals, could stop bombing schools. He could stop launching Iranian drones into civilian infrastructure. He could stop the forcible deportation of young kids…putting them in filtration camps inside other places inside Ukraine but also inside Russia. He could stop reducing cities like Bakhmut to piles of bricks. That is a way to stop the prolongation of hostilities.”
At a time when Beijing is seeking to position itself as a possible peacemaker on Ukraine, Kirby dismissed the joint statement’s reference about Russia appreciating China’s “impartial” position on Ukraine.
“I don’t think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way. They haven’t condemned this invasion. They haven’t stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy. President Xi saw fit to fly all the way to Moscow, hasn’t talked once with President Zelensky, hasn’t visited Ukraine, hasn’t bothered to avail himself of the Ukrainian objective. And he and his regime keep parroting the Russian propaganda that this is somehow a war of the West on Russia, that it’s some sort of existential threat to Mr. Putin. That’s just a bunch of malarkey.”
When asked if there was a “budding alliance” between Russia and China, Kirby said he would not go so far as to call it an alliance but term it as a “marriage of convenience”. He said that in Putin and Russia, Xi saw a “counterweight” to American and NATO influence. In Xi and China, Putin saw a “potential backer” at a time when Russia doesn’t have many international friends. “And he really needs and wants President Xi’s support...he’s blowing through inventory. He is blowing through manpower. His military is getting embarrassed constantly. They have lost greater than 50% of the territory that they took in the first few months of this war. He needs help from Xi, and that’s what this visit was all about.”
Kirby added that both Moscow and Beijing are “growing closer together” and see each other as useful for “chafing and bristling” at the “rules-based order”. “They want to change the rules of that game. In fact, they would love nothing better to see the rest of the world play by their rules rather than the ones that are enshrined in the UN Charter and what everybody else is following.”
