Beijing’s absence from the two-day conference, attended by more than 90 countries and focused on rallying support for Ukraine’s peace proposals, has raised doubts about China’s self-proclaimed neutrality in the Ukraine war.
Ukraine invited China to the January summit but China, which last month reaffirmed its commitment to an “unrestricted” partnership with Moscow, has insisted that any peace process must include Russia.
Geng’s appeal is broadly consistent with a peace plan that China unveiled a year ago, which Russia praised as an alternative to one by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy but was largely rejected by the United States and its allies.
02:29
During the Shangri-La Dialogue, President Zelensky urges China to help end the Ukraine war
During the Shangri-La Dialogue, President Zelensky called on China to help end the war in Ukraine
Speaking at a UN briefing on arms supplies to Ukraine on Friday, Geng defended China’s “objectivity and impartiality” and accused the United States of “spreading the lie that China has been supporting Russia’s war efforts.”
“This is unacceptable… It is an attempt to divert people’s attention from the conflict and make a difference,” he said.
“We urge the United States to stop using the Ukraine issue as an excuse to smear China and impose unilateral sanctions and unjustified suppression on Chinese companies,” he said.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday that China’s absence was likely due to Russian pressure and was consistent with Beijing “providing input into Russian military capabilities.”
“They’re not here. [Vladimir] “President Putin asked them not to come and they complied with President Putin’s request,” Sullivan told reporters at the Swiss mountaintop resort. “China has been saying it supports peace in Ukraine and what better way to show that than by coming here.”
More than 90 countries have accepted invitations to the two-day summit, which ends Sunday, according to the Swiss government.
The summit was attended by top leaders from 57 countries, ranging from France, Germany and Japan to Argentina, Fiji and Qatar, but U.S. President Joe Biden skipped the meeting after Friday’s Group of Seven summit, sending Vice President Kamala Harris instead.
India, South Africa, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand also sent delegations, while Brazil attended as an observer.
Zelenskiy, who enjoyed strong support from the G7, praised the turnout at the Swiss event and said it would be the start of a process to force Russia to stop aggression and ensure peace.
“Even though they are not here today at the first summit, we [showing] “I want to appeal to the world that through joint efforts we can stop wars and establish peace,” he told reporters at the start of the meeting on Saturday.
The final statement, supported by the vast majority of countries participating in the forum, said “we believe that reaching peace requires engagement and dialogue among all parties” and called for respecting “the territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine.”
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer warned that “only with the cooperation of parts of Asia, Africa and South America can we make the Russian Federation change its mind.”
04:28
‘We just want him back’: Indian national who was allegedly tricked into fighting for Russia dies
‘We just want him back’: Indian national who was allegedly tricked into fighting for Russia dies
Alexander Gabuev, director of the Berlin-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Russia and Eurasia Center, wrote on Twitter that Beijing does not expect any clear outcomes from the event.
“Beijing’s expected failure of the Swiss summit may give China an opportunity to assume, or at least pretend to assume, a central role in the diplomatic effort,” he wrote.
Ryan Hass, a China expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, tweeted that Beijing’s view is that the Ukraine conflict is “far from a mutually damaging stalemate and therefore not yet ripe for resolution. They do not see Switzerland as a neutral country and will not get drawn into negotiations that Moscow refuses to take part in.”
