China has rejected US President Donald Trump’s call for Europe to exert economic pressure on Beijing over the war in Ukraine, insisting it is not a party to the conflict.
During a video conference with European leaders in Paris on Thursday, Trump urged them to “put pressure on China” and demanded that Europe stop buying Russian oil, which he said was financing the war, according to a senior White House official.
Responding on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing “strongly opposes” being dragged into the conflict.
“We firmly oppose the practice of constantly dragging China into the matter, and we strongly oppose the imposition of so-called economic pressure on China,” Guo told reporters, stressing that China was “neither creator of this crisis nor a party to it.”
Although China has called for an end to hostilities, it has not condemned Russia’s invasion nor demanded troop withdrawals, leading many of Ukraine’s allies to believe Beijing has quietly supported Moscow. China has also accused the West of prolonging the war by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Moscow and Beijing declared a “no limits partnership” just before Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and their ties have only strengthened since. On Wednesday, President Xi Jinping stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a military parade marking 80 years since the end of World War II — a move criticised by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and others.
Asked twice by journalists whether China considers Russia a “peace-loving country,” Guo declined to give a direct answer.
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