On May 23, Gong Jiong, an expert at China Forum under Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy and vice president for research, UIBE Israel, was invited to attend a webinar titled “China-Russia Relations amid the Ukraine Crisis” hosted by the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists.

China has engaged with Ukraine multiple times since the crisis started, so there is no “diplomatic ghosting” on the Chinese side, said Professor Gong. Peace mediation should not be the effort of one single country but all countries. A significant number of members of the international community, China included, have maintained a position of neutrality on the crisis, advocating for peace talks, he stressed.

On whether there is a ceiling in the “no limits” relationship between China and Russia when it comes to the Ukraine crisis, Professor Gong said that Beijing has made it clear that it had no prior knowledge of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and has never provided any military assistance to Russia. In addition, there is no “Sino-Russian convergence,” and China will continue to maintain normal trade relations with both Ukraine and Russia, which will also empower its constructive role in promoting peace talks, said Gong.

China-Russia cooperation has a much stronger impact in the economic than the security sphere, and it is not the basis of any global security architecture; the crisis in Ukraine reflects more about the impact of an expanding NATO on global security.

Founded in 2003, the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists unites scholars and institutions involved in the study of China and China-Ukraine relations.