China engaged in global ‘image-building’ amid war in Ukraine

Beijing [China], May 17 (ANI): With a strong Quad alliance and US-EU partnership, China is now scurrying towards global “image building” and the same is quite evident in the contradictory statements that Beijing has given over the Ukraine crisis.

When it comes to external invasion or humanitarian intervention to protect the citizens of any country in need, such as African countries with civil wars, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, the Chinese government, always plays the “state-sovereignty” card in any internal crisis of states, did not have that option in the Ukraine Crisis.

This is evident in the contradictory statements used by the Chinese leadership over the Ukraine crisis in front of the international community. On one hand, China has avoided using the word “state sovereignty”, however, on another hand, at the early stages of the conflict China’s ambassador to Ukraine stated that China respected Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, reported Modern Diplomacy, a European opinion-maker.

With this, China’s questionable attitude toward the concept of state sovereignty is evident. The second aspect that China keeps a keen eye on is the “image building”. China’s strategy is such that it makes sure that it is in the good books of atleast some of the countries.

The reason for this uneasiness for China is that Chinese policymakers are already wary about the Quad and Pacific alliance’s potential impact on China in the near future. Apart from the string Quad alliance, the other point of fear for China is the US-EU alliance.

Since last year, when the EU imposed sanctions on China due to the human rights situation in Xinjiang, China has had a tumultuous relationship with the EU.

EU has been voicing its concerns over China’s support to Russia amid the war in Eastern Europe. China is worried that if the EU aligns more closely with the US, China’s trade relationship with the EU, as well as large projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative, will be jeopardized.

However, China is cautiously treading as it does not want to jeopardize its relationship with the EU as the EU is China’s largest trading partner and most EU countries are part of the BRI.

Now, in order to deal with this emerging geopolitical situation, China is changing gears and is now shifting the conversation to condemn the West especially, the US for its “misdoings” in Afghanistan, as per the media portal.

Another pressure point for China is Taiwan and the debate over its status. Many scholarly and foreign policy circles of the West and particularly Japan and Taiwan, are debating if the Ukraine War will repeat itself in the Taiwan Strait.

Thus China is making sure that it is diverting the attention of the international community to the Afghanistan crisis. Now, China is found to be using statements like “we should urge the international community not to neglect the Afghan issue while focusing on the Ukraine issue, and continue to increase input in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people tide over the difficulties.” (ANI)