(United Nations) China’s UN ambassador argues the world has ‘nothing to gain’ from a new Cold War in an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Posted at 12:55 p.m.
Updated at 12:57 p.m.
“The Cold War is long over. The Cold War mentality based on block confrontation must be abandoned,” Zhang Jun said from the General Assembly podium, assuring that “everyone would stand to lose” from such a return.
Russia has been in the dock since Monday at the UN General Assembly during an “emergency special session” of its 193 members called to take a position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine decided by Vladimir Putin.
China, which refuses to condemn Russia for this act, called on Monday for de-escalation in the conflict through Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, who called on the belligerents to “remain calm and do restraint in order to avoid further escalation”.
Since the start of the conflict, Chinese diplomacy has engaged in a balancing act between its political proximity to Moscow and its traditional defense of the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of states.
Beijing refused to approve the UN Security Council resolution on Friday condemning Russian aggression but did not vote against it either, taking refuge in abstention.
The communist regime refuses to speak of a Russian “invasion” and has said that it “understands” Russia’s “reasonable” demands in terms of security, taking on board Moscow’s grievances against NATO.