China: US needs to advance peace in Ukraine, not label Russia as terrorist state

BEIJING, July 25. /ST/. Washington should assist in promoting a Russian-Ukrainian dialogue for peace instead of working towards including Russia in its list of state sponsors of terrorism, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

“The US should create favorable conditions to advance Russian-Ukrainian peace talks. Washington should take steps to facilitate a political settlement to the crisis in Ukraine,” he said at a briefing replying to a question by TASS as to how officials in Beijing view the US government’s intention of labeling Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.

The Chinese diplomat specified that Beijing sees a peace deal as the only effective way to de-escalate in Ukraine. “Washington should take more steps which will positively impact a political settlement,” he emphasized.

Earlier, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California) during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted that if the Department of State did not declare Russia a sponsor of terrorism over the situation in Ukraine, the legislative branch would do so. According to the Politico newspaper, the two politicians deliberated over this issue last week. In his turn, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin frowned upon these plans. “However, on the other hand, it is very difficult to do something that can make relations between Russia and the US even worse,” he insisted.

In another development, Chinese authorities slam statements by individual British politicians about ‘the need to limit China’s influence’ as irresponsible.

“I will not comment on the participation in the election of the British Conservative Party representative [Rishi Sunak], but I would like to advise individual British politicians <…> not to solve their own problems by criticizing China. This will not work,” Lijian said.

According to the Chinese diplomat, the words of British politicians who try to inflate the theory of the so-called Chinese threat “should be considered irresponsible statements.”

On Sunday, ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said that he would limit China’s influence in the United Kingdom if he won the race for prime minister. He promised to close all UK Confucius Institutes and stressed that British politicians have favored China for too long and overlooked its machinations and its ambitions. The member of the Conservative Party promised that he would prevent Beijing from “taking over British universities” and would actively oppose Chinese hackers.

Compiled by: Basma Qaddour