China rejects ‘pressure or coercion’ on relations with Russia

BEIJING — China said Thursday it would reject “any pressure or coercion” on its relationship with Russia, in response to a call from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for Beijing to use its “special relationship with Russia.” Russia” to persuade Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian defended China’s stance on the war, saying it had “made tremendous efforts to defuse the situation, defuse the crisis and rebuild peace”.

“China is playing a constructive role in the Ukraine issue,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.

China has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine by its strategic partner, Russia, or even to call the conflict a war in deference to Moscow, which uses the term “special military operation”.

“We oppose unfounded accusations and suspicions against China, and we will not accept any pressure or coercion,” Zhao said. “Time will tell that China’s claims are on the right side of history.”

China has also amplified Russian propaganda about the war, including unsubstantiated claims that the United States and Ukraine have developed biological weapons.

He has strongly opposed economic sanctions against Russia and either abstained or sided with Moscow in votes at the UN after the war began on February 24, just weeks after the leader Russian Vladimir Putin met Chinese Xi Jinping in Beijing.

In a speech on Wednesday, Yellen said Beijing “cannot expect the global community to uphold its calls for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity in the future if it fails to uphold those principles now.”

“The world’s attitude toward China and its willingness to embrace deeper economic integration may well be affected by China’s reaction to our call for resolute action against Russia,” she said.

Yellen’s speech to the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank, came a week before the world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. His direct appeal to China underscores the growing frustration of the United States and its allies with a country that has only deepened its ties with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

Making no mention of Russia’s aggression, Zhao reiterated China’s position that it “supports that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and safeguarded”, and that “the sovereignty and Ukraine’s security must be preserved, and Russia’s legitimate security concerns must also be taken into account.” respected.”