Before the war, some commentators suggested that China will openly side with Russia or try to act as a mediator – so far Beijing has also refused to do.

When Qin Gang, the Chinese Ambassador for the US, wrote recently at The Washington Post, Beijing has nothing to get from this war, arguing “holding a stick sanction in Chinese companies and …

The Qin Ambassador also stressed that Beijing did not have the previous knowledge of conflict, rejected all efforts to benefit from the crisis and asked all parties to join peaceful negotiations.

Because Russia began a war in Ukraine, China has stated the de facto neutrality policy. So far, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, have bothered to show “China is not a party for a crisis, also does not want sanctions to affect China”.

The decision to remain neutral reflects Beijing’s critical position in the conflict.

China had previously requested a larger alignment with the Putin regime, based on antipathy together against US and West power, including through shared stat