Mr. Li Hui, China's special envoy for European affairs, attended the Ukraine peace dialogue held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 5 and 6.
The dialogue is attended by about 40 countries. Notably, in addition to China, there are Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Zambia, Egypt, the UK, Poland and the European Union, but not Russia.
This is Beijing’s different approach to finding a solution to the 529-day Moscow-Kiev conflict. In fact, China did not attend the Ukraine peace talks held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late June. This NATO member country invited China but did not attend.
China has so far not condemned Russia for its conflict with Ukraine and has proposed a 12-point peace plan. It has also criticized the West for continuing to pump weapons into Ukraine, prolonging the conflict.
Special envoy Li Hui was sent by China to attend the Ukraine peace dialogue held in Saudi Arabia on August 5 and 6. Photo: Reuters
Reuters quoted analysts as saying that Beijing seems to be facing some difficulties as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and tit-for-tat moves in the Black Sea affect global food issues.
China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geng Shuang told the Security Council on July 26 that Beijing was deeply concerned that there was no end in sight to the conflict.
"Beijing is moving more towards peaceful efforts but also knows that its proposed peace initiative is unlikely to be accepted by the West at this time," Reuters quoted Yun Sun, an expert at the Stimson think tank in Washington, USA.
Beijing maintains close economic and diplomatic ties with Moscow, and it does not want to be absent from peace talks hosted by non-Western countries.
"Beijing is taking action. The move to participate in the international peace dialogue in Saudi Arabia is good for China's image and also helps Beijing better understand the positions of the parties," said Li Mingjiang, an expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Scholar Moritz Rudolf at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School in the US said: "The situation is becoming increasingly complicated. The escalating conflict is directly affecting China's economic and political interests."
Even Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called China's participation in the peace dialogue in Saudi Arabia a "significant breakthrough."
Beijing’s latest move on the global diplomatic chessboard comes amid a number of internal changes in the country, including the unexplained removal of Qin Gang as foreign minister. China also recently replaced the head of the military’s Rocket Force.
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