China doesn’t want peace in Ukraine, Czech president warns

China cannot be trusted to mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine, Czech President Petr Pavel is warning, telling Politico that Beijing benefits from prolonging the war. 

His comments come as China is trying to position itself as a peacemaker in Ukraine, recently floating a vague roadmap to ending the conflict. And while most Western allies have been sceptical of the overtures, some countries like France insist China could play a major role in peace talks.

Pavel, a former general and senior NATO leader, was unequivocal, however. When it comes to Ukraine, he argued, China only wants what’s best for itself — and, for now, that’s more war.

“I believe that it is in China’s interest to prolong the status quo,” Pavel said, “because it can push Russia to a number of concessions.”

Beijing, he said in an interview late last week, can get cheap oil, gas and other resources from Moscow — in exchange for its “no limits” partnership with the Kremlin. “It is also good for China that the West is probably becoming a little bit weaker by supporting Ukraine,” he added.

Pavel’s remarks seemed prescient when, only hours after he spoke, China’s ambassador to France provoked indignation by proclaiming that former Soviet countries have “no effective status” in international law — a comment that came in response to a question about whether Crimea belongs to Ukraine.

Although Beijing on Monday distanced itself from the remarks, the incident has stoked the heated conversation around whether China can ever help bring peace to Ukraine.

“I don’t think,” the Czech leader said, that “China has a real interest to resolve the war in a short time.”

Pavel, who took office as president last month, said Beijing is using the war to learn.

“China is taking lessons out of the conflict every day,” Pavel said. “They closely follow what Russia is doing, how the West is reacting.”