Who dictated the "peace plan" to Beijing?

There is a very good saying in China: "It is pointless to shorten your feet when your shoes are too small." Some of the points of China's recently unveiled "peace plan" look just as ridiculous.

With all due respect to any initiatives to stop the bloody slaughter in Ukraine, I nevertheless proceed from the position that we should very clearly distinguish between "peace at any cost" and the concept of a just peace. In other words: to distinguish between the aggressor and the victim, and not to "play with snakes in the terrarium".

The Chinese initiative is precisely aimed at "shortening" and "deforming" the scale of Russia's war against Ukraine, reducing it to a kind of "local conflict" that can be frozen with ease, so that it can smolder for decades. This is a blatant indulgence of Moscow's unbridled thirst for "negotiations, negotiations, negotiations" until it gathers its strength, takes into account the mistakes of its past and present strategies, and strikes again.

“Chinese initiative is precisely aimed at "shortening" and "deforming" the scale of Russia's war against Ukraine, reducing it to a kind of "local conflict" that can be frozen with ease, so that it can smolder for decades”

Moreover, according to China's "wise" advice, it will use the resources of the annexed territories of Ukraine – Donbas, the south and Crimea – to prepare for a new aggression. After all, Beijing demands "respect for the sovereignty" of all countries, but does not specify a clear timeframe for the acquisition of this sovereignty. Of course, no one is going to consider the Ukrainian territories seized as a result of the war as Russian (except for a few marginal regimes that do not hide their sympathies for Moscow). But diplomacy, like the East, is a delicate matter, and Russia is already hinting that, for example, the Ukrainian Armed Forces should stop shelling Crimea or Mariupol, since it is already a Russian fief.

The calls of the communist Chinese regime to abandon the rhetoric of the Cold War, as the document says, the "mentality" of the Cold War, look very significant. In other words, the document's implications should be read as a rejection of military blocs, including NATO, which, according to the Kremlin, caused Russia's expansion into Ukraine. Let's not forget that among Moscow's demands was (and probably still is) one very specific one – the return of the North Atlantic Alliance to the borders of... 1997. In other words, the rejection of the "Cold War mentality" is a canceling of the real security structure in Europe. In other words, the same "shortening of the feet". Of course, one can demagogically argue that NATO's alter ego, the Warsaw Pact, died with the USSR, but it is worth recalling who appropriated the succession of the "union."

“The rejection of the "Cold War mentality" is a canceling of the real security structure in Europe. In other words, the same "shortening of the feet"”

Of course, Beijing is interested not only in taming its main opponent and leader of the democratic world, Washington, but also in weakening Russia in every possible way, turning it into its raw material base, and possibly annexing Siberia and the Far East in the future. In fact, such a creeping annexation has already been going on for years. But China has to deal with the current state of its economy, which is not very comforting from a distant perspective, as it is in the global dimension. That is why among the points of the "peace plan" we can see a demand to lift sanctions. They do not solve problems, but rather exacerbate them. But we shouldn't assume that China is taking care of Russia with this demand, but rather its own interests. In fact, it is no longer a secret that China supplies dual-use goods to Russia and other transit countries, and thus to the Russian Federation, including missile and UAV components.

“China's ambitions here and now camouflage Putin's role, take him out of the well-deserved line of fire, and help disorient the world as to who will be responsible for crimes against humanity”

The 12 points proposed by "Uncle Xi" are a poorly concealed claim to China's leadership in confrontation with the democratic world, including the United States. Currently, this dubious position is occupied by Putin's Russia, since it is the one that has decided to wage a real war against the alternative civilization camp. However, we should not assume that Moscow has any resentment toward Beijing for this attempt on its "hegemony." 

On the contrary, China's ambitions here and now camouflage Putin's role, take him out of the well-deserved line of fire, and help disorient the world as to who will be responsible for crimes against humanity.

But as he pulls on the patchwork quilt of leadership among autocracies and tyrannies, Mr. Xi and his country must remember one very unpleasant thing. After the victory of the anti-Putin coalition, the focus of world attention will be on China, where medieval methods of genocide against the Uighurs are still alive in the twenty-first century, where the "leading and governing" party brutally suppresses any hint of dissent, where they are not ashamed of openly segregationist practices and defamation of the unwanted.

I think that Beijing's sages worked on the "Chinese peace charter" in close cooperation with Russian advisers. In any case, this is what it looks like from an analysis of the text advertised by Chinese officials. Time will tell what really happened. I will also conclude with a wise proverb: "To see a rainbow, you have to go through the rain."

About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist and editor-in-chief of the website Espreso.Zakhid.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.