On February 28 - March 1, 2023, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted its 12th Middle East Conference, titled “The New Middle East and the Security Crisis in Europe: Effects of Mutual Influence.” Professor Gong Jiong, vice president for research at UIBE-Israel and China Forum expert, was invited to speak at the session themed “The Age of Sovereignty: Key Middle Eastern Countries’ Foreign Policy Priorities.”

A committed advocate of peace and humanitarianism, China has taken a position of neutrality on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said Gong. China has been calling on both sides of the conflict to resume negotiations and reach a ceasefire and has been providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while striving to maintain normal trade relations with Russia and Ukraine.

Gong pointed out that neutral countries that have not imposed sanctions on Russia have greatly outnumbered those who have and represent a larger population than the latter, yet these countries - especially China - are facing increasing political pressure and unwarranted accusations from the West. He refuted US rhetoric that China has adopted a “pro-Russian neutrality” by citing solid trade data: in 2022, China’s trade with the US is much higher than that with Russia, and India is actually a bigger buyer of Russian oil than China.

Gong believes that such unwarranted accusations and pressure China is facing could happen to any neutral country in the future, and proactive, joint efforts to distance ourselves from this war need to be made. He called on neutral countries to form a “coalition of the unwilling” to resist the growing political pressure from the West and to better safeguard world peace.

Click here to watch the conference:

https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/key-middle-eastern-countries-foreign-policy-priorities-the-5th-session-of-the-12th-middle- east-conference/