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In an interview with Al Jazeera, China’s envoy to the European Union (EU), Fu Cong, suggested that China supports Ukraine’s goal of restoring its territorial integrity.

Fu answered “I don’t see why not” when questioned about whether he supported Ukraine’s objectives of restoring its borders as they were in 1991.

This includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine back in 2014.

China respects territorial integrity of all countries

Fu Cong said:

“We respect the territorial integrity of all countries. So when China established relations with the former Soviet Union, that’s what we agreed.

But as I said, these are historical issues that need to be negotiated and resolved by Russia and Ukraine and that is what we stand for.”

Russia also officially "recognised the independence" of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics in the Donbas area of Ukraine in February 2022, days before it launched the invasion of Ukraine.

These regions had been part of Ukraine after it declared independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In March 2023, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that he would not compromise on his country's territorial integrity, which is delineated by its 1991 borders.

On Ukraine

Fu also defended Beijing’s stance on Ukraine, stating that they have been “very clear” and that they advocated for peace.

“[We] believe that it is important to achieve peace as soon as possible by resolving differences on the negotiating table.”

China has attempted to position itself as a peace broker in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, most recently sending a special envoy to Kyiv to discuss a “peace settlement”.

It has adopted a neutral stance towards the war, refusing to condemn Russia or describing its aggression on Ukraine as an "invasion".

The country also released a 12-point peace proposal in February 2023 that called for the cessation of hostilities and resumption of peace talks.

On relations with EU

Fu also told Al Jazeera that the EU should not “should not conflate economic security with national security, making it hurt free trade”.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had remarked that the bloc should focus on “de-risking” its relations with China, not “de-couple”.

In response to potential bans on Huawei and ZTE by the European Commission, Fu said that such developments were “concerning”.

“De-risking should not become de-coupling in another name.”

“There is no evidence that they are harming cybersecurity and in our view, these baseless accusations go against the spirit of fair play and fair competition, which actually Europe claims to be the champion.”

China's premier Li Qiang recently wrapped up a trip to Germany and France, during which he called for further cooperation and the rejection of de-coupling, Xinhua News reported.

In his speech at the Nikkei Asia Forum on May 25, 2023, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned against rising protectionist sentiments and pointed out that "de-risking" carries its own inherent risks.

Not the first time

Fu’s comments come after an earlier interview with New York Times in April 2023, during which he said that China did not support Russia in the war.

He added that some have “deliberately [misinterpreted] this because there’s the so-called ‘no limit’ friendship or relationship”, calling it a mere rhetoric.

Fu also said that China did not recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Donbas regions.

His comments differed from Lu Shaye, China’s envoy to France, who had in the same month questioned the status of ex-Soviet countries including Ukraine.

The Chinese foreign ministry later walked back on his comments, reiterating that China respected the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics as well as the independence and territorial integrity of all nations.

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Top image via Getty Images - AFP/Alex Halada