Independent news India

R J paul

China faces several challenges as a result of theUkraine-Russia issue. The growing diplomatic ties between Russia and China wereon display during the Winter Games, with Mr Putin being one of  justa few recognized foreign leaders to attend. Notably, Mr Putin waited untilshortly after the  Games concluded to acknowledge andsupport Ukraine's two separatist regions.

The Chinese  government has encouraged all partiesto de-escalate tensions in Ukraine in public statements.  However,given that Russia has abandoned any such restraints, what does this mean forChina's  official stance as tensions escalate?

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the high-stakesdiplomacy saw yet another meeting of top  leaders, this time between Presidents;Xi Jinping and Joe Biden. "The situation in Ukraine has  deterioratedto the point where China does not want it to worsen." "A Chinesehistorical and

cultural tradition has always pushed for peace and opposedthe conflict," Xi reminded Biden.

Besides Ukraine, another area of contention between the two leaderswas Taiwan. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has generated noteworthy worry inself-governing Taiwan, which China claims and has pledged to recover by forceif necessary. The island, which Washington is required by law to arm, hasincreased its alert level, fearful of China using a distracting West to move againstit.

"If the Taiwan problem is not addressed properly, it willnegatively influence the two countries' relationship." I'm hoping that theUS side pays enough attention. The current state of China-USties is directly related to the failure of some Americans to implementthe binding agreement struck by the two of us andMrPresident's favourable words.

China sent a message to Washington DC by sailing an aircraftcarrier across the Taiwan Strait just hours before the call. Xi's remarks onTaiwan also suggest that Beijing is attempting to capitalize on the disparitiesin Biden's China policy team's viewpoints.

However, there are differences of opinion within China's leadershipregarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. China's ambassador to the United States,Qin Gang, submitted an op-ed in The Washington Post rejecting assertions thatChinese leaders knew about the battle ahead of time. China observersinterpreted the op-ed as a possible shift in China's approach to the war. Thismay not be the case since China's vice foreign minister, Le Yucheng, blamedNATO for the conflict in Ukraine, referring to the alliance as a "Cold Warlegacy" and called Russia's sanctions "outrageous."

While the Chinese leadership's strategy on Ukraine may have flaws,China is unlikely to develop an extensive "peace deal." "Timewill prove that China's position is on the right side of history," ForeignMinister Wang Yi said on the Biden-Xi call.

"According to insiders, some party "elders," orretired leaders who still have a say in political debate, have recently spokenout against Mr Xi's ambition to change the traditional leadership-successionstructure. Former Premier Zhu Rongji, a Chinese elder statesman known as BossZhu and an economic reformer beloved by the West, is among them, according toLingling Wei of the Wall Street Journal, citing CCP sources.

Even though Premier Li Keqiang announced his resignation last week,we have learnt that he may return in a new capacity. "They suggested that,even though Mr Li's tenure as premier is coming to an end shortly, he is likelyto stay in a new leadership position," the WSJ report continued.

China is well aware that aiding Russia's incursion would exacerbateits already strained ties with the affluent democracies that are its primarytrade partners, including the United States, the European Union, and Japan. Relations with these nations are attheir lowest point since China launched its reform and opening policies in the1970s. If China allied with Russia, for example, by granting economic aid oragreeing to veto UN Security Council sanctions, it would be challenging torepair those connections. Rather than that, most affluent democracies would seeChina and Russia as part of a communist alliance reminiscent of the 1950s. Thiswould make resuming any type of contact with China almost hard for manynations.

The Chinese foreign ministry has said unequivocally that Ukraineand Taiwan are not comparable. While China regards Taiwan as an integral partof its territory, Ukraine is an entirely independent nation in its own right.However, the idea is similar on a deeper level. In an ideal world, the United Stateswould be able to restart high-level dialogue with China. It could then remindBeijing that its future is as a global leader, engaging and competing withadvanced countries, not slumming with energy-state autocracies such as Russia.

But there is little hope of this happening because ties betweenWashington and Beijing remain too frayed by recent developments. The currentsituation will likely persist, with Beijing taking pot-shots from the sidewhile other countries try to save Ukraine's autonomy.