China will disrupt Zelensky's tour of Southeast Asia - political scientist
The current deterioration in Ukrainian-Chinese relations could lead to China blocking the announced tour of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Southeast Asian countries.
Political scientist Evgeny Magda stated this on the Espresso TV channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Magda recalled that China, being one of Ukraine’s largest economic partners, supported its territorial integrity only in words and did not support a single anti-Russian resolution.
“Let me remind you that China is one of Ukraine’s largest trading partners and, accordingly, it exports about seven billion, imports about eight billion - by any indicator, China is in the top three, and this has a serious influence.
The point is that China has not said since 2014 that it completely denies the annexation of Crimea. That is, the words about supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine were more of a formality than a real moment. For example, in the UN General Assembly, if my memory serves me correctly, China has never supported resolutions aimed at supporting territorial integrity or condemning violations of the rights of Ukrainian citizens in the territory of occupied Crimea, it is clear that for its own reasons.
But I’m talking about something else – China, unfortunately, has some experience. Let's say, during Yushchenko's presidency, Ukrainian-Chinese relations were near the freezing point, politically, because in Beijing they believed that Yushchenko had come to power, despite the third round of elections, which was accepted by almost everyone in Ukraine and abroad; in China they decided that this not this way.
And during the five years of Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency, these relations were significantly frozen. I would like to emphasize that China is a powerful and significant player in Southeast Asia. If Ukraine does not demonstrate a certain determination, then I am far from sure that the announced tour of Vladimir Zelensky, the Asian tour, will even take place. Because I admit that Beijing has the ability to influence the position of various countries in Southeast Asia in such a way as to disrupt this tour,” Magda said.
China will disrupt Zelensky's tour of Southeast Asia, says political scientist