The symbol is not insignificant: as the preparation for a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the spring intensifies, Beijing sends a senior diplomat to play the role of ambassador and mediator with Kiev and its European allies. Li Hui, former Chinese ambassador to Russia, will travel to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and finally Russia from Monday, May 15, Chinese foreign affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin announced on Friday. Objective: to discuss a “political settlement” of the war. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced his arrival by speaking at the end of April by telephone with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
China’s top diplomat since the start of the conflict
The diplomatic tour of this special representative “is another way for China to demonstrate its commitment and efforts to promote peace talks, and fully shows that China is firmly on the side of peace”, according to Wang Wenbin. At 70, Li Hui served as an ambassador for 10 years in Russia, from 2009 to 2019. He is the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. He is also Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Representative of Eurasian Affairs since 2019 and specialist in the former Soviet space.
Commercially and diplomatically close to Russia, China proposes to put on the clothes of mediator concerning the Russian invasion. Beijing published a twelve-point peace plan at the end of February: the government urged in particular to respect the territorial integrity of all countries – including Ukraine.
Attempt to appease the approach of the counter-offensive?
This tour of Europe by Li Hui comes as Ukraine prepares its spring counter-offensive, the results of which will undoubtedly influence future negotiations. Moreover, Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in Berlin, where he is mobilizing his allies to deliver fighter planes to kyiv.
As the European Union begins to discuss a new China policy, Li Hui’s tour reinforces the signal that China wants to play a mediating role. With a theoretically neutral position, China has maintained since the start of the conflict (which it does not qualify as an invasion) an ambivalence that has troubled its relations with European countries. Several slippages in recent months have reinforced this feeling.
In April, another Chinese diplomat, Beijing’s ambassador to France, caused an outcry by questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet states. Remarks very quickly contradicted by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “China is ready to continue to play a constructive role in seeking a broader international consensus on a ceasefire, an end to the war, the start of peace talks and the prevention of any escalation of the situation,” reassured Wang Wenbin on Friday.