US and China issued separate statements following a virtual dialogue between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping (File photo)
WASHINGTON: “He who tied the bell to the tiger must take it off” and “It takes two hands to clap.” With these simple dictums, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday rejected US President Joe Biden’s efforts to pressure Beijing into abandoning Russia on the Ukraine issue, while implicitly blaming Washington and its Nato allies for the crisis.
The two aphorisms were cited in a 1030-word Chinese foreign ministry statement after a video call between the two leaders that was an unalloyed take-down of US policies on both the Russia and China fronts. While nearly half the statement dealt with Beijing’s unhappiness about what it sees as Washington’s shifting sentiment on Taiwan, China also pushed back at the western narrative on blaming only Russia for the crisis, flagging the need to address Russia’s security concerns vis-a-vis Nato.
“All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace. The US and Nato should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine,” the Chinese statement said.
Both in its censorious tone and length, the statement offered a sharp contrast to the White House’s brief 165-word readout on the call which said “President Biden detailed our efforts to prevent and then respond to the invasion, including by imposing costs on Russia.” “He (Biden) described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians,” the White House statement said, without elaborating on what consequences .
In an apparent rebuff to the threat, China’s statement cautioned that “sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions would only make the people suffer.” “If further escalated, they could trigger serious crises in global economy… There is always a need for political courage to create space for peace and leave room for political settlement,” it said, going out to quote the two Chinese sayings.
In an apparent reference to the Beijing’s disquiet over US utterances on Taiwan amid apprehensions in some quarters that China would do a Ukraine on Taiwan, the White House readout said Biden reiterated that US policy on Taiwan has not changed, and he emphasised that the US continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo. An official later said Biden also underscored US concerns about “Beijing’s coercive actions across the Taiwan Strait”.
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