China’s “peace plan” to iron out the Ukraine-Russia crisis is the only glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. It unveils a game-changing opportunity for all stakeholders to liberate the world from a quagmire as sending weapons will never bring peace, add fuel to the fire to exacerbate tensions and cause suffering for ordinary people. The recipe for “Peace” is a win-win situation for everyone. The more the cold war mentality festers the minds and bloc politics continues to go on a rampage, the more the peace of the world risks doom.
Every world forum like the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA) should be used to hash out peace talks abandoning the mindset of blind “supremacy and ego”. World powers can really make a difference by extinguishing the blazes of war. Realizing their impact, the US, NATO and the EU should subscribe to peace negotiation because at the end of the day, whether war is left to prolong for years, it has to end sooner or later.
On the one-year anniversary of the start of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in support of a draft resolution for peace in Ukraine. China and some other countries including Pakistan did not pick their battle. They abstained from the vote. China believes that the international community should assist with facilitating peace talks without fanning fire.
“We support Russia and Ukraine moving towards each other resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible to bring their legitimate concerns into the negotiations and setting out feasible options putting an early end to the crisis,” charge d’affaires of China’s permanent mission to the UN, Dai Bing, said. Dai noted that the top priority is to facilitate a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities without delay. “Conflicts and wars have no winners. The longer the brutality, the greater the human suffering. We once again call on the parties to the conflict to remain rational, restrain their impulses, and prevent the crisis from getting worse or even out of control.” Dai pointed out that parties should strictly abide by the Convention on Nuclear Safety and guard against man-made nuclear accidents, and that nuclear weapons cannot be used.
Meanwhile, China has also revealed a 12-point paper called ‘China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis’ on the anniversary of the conflict. Focusing on Respecting the sovereignty of all countries, China says “international law... must be strictly observed” in the conflict, with the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries effectively upheld. It stressed that “equal and uniform application” of such law should be promoted, while “double standards must be rejected.”
Urging to cease hostilities, China calls for parties to “avoid fanning the flames” and prevent the crisis from “spiraling out of control.” All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in de-escalating the situation to reach a comprehensive ceasefire. On the issue of resuming peace talks, it demands dialogue and negotiation are “the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis, adding that China will continue to “play a constructive role” in promoting such talks. Regarding resolving the humanitarian crisis, the 12-point document stresses that humanitarian operations should be impartial and not be politicized so as to provide “rapid, safe and unimpeded” access to prevent a wider humanitarian crisis. For protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs), the paper says both parties should avoid striking civilians or civilian facilities while stressing China’s support for the exchange of POWs.
In order to keep nuclear power plants safe, China’s vision calls on the conflicting sides to stop armed attacks against nuclear power plants and “resolutely avoid man-made nuclear accidents.” China calls upon reducing strategic risks and that nuclear weapons must not be used, it states, adding that the threat of such weapons and nuclear proliferation should also be opposed. Underlining the facilitation of grain exports, the paper also stresses the importance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative which allows agricultural products to be exported from the conflicting countries. China also asks for stopping unilateral sanctions and said that sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction” cannot solve the issue; “they only create new problems.” For keeping industrial and supply chains stable, China calls to avoid using the world economy as a political “tool or weapon”, giving special attention to preventing the disruption of cooperation in energy, finance, food trade and transportation. Last but not the least, China urges for promoting post-conflict reconstruction. It concludes that the international community needs to support post-conflict reconstruction, stressing China’s willingness to help in this endeavour.