Ukraine’s Just Part of China’s Cold War Paradox

China’s balancing act on Ukraine has appeared hard to impossible to sustain. But anyone hoping that Foreign Minister Wang Yi was ready to signal a policy shift will have been disappointed by his appearance before global media Monday. Wang reaffirmed a “rock solid” relationship with Russia, again declined to term the military action in Ukraine an invasion, and yet reasserted United Nations principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. China, it seems, is just fine living with the contradictions.

In a call with his Ukrainian counterpart last week, Wang deplored the conflict and expressed concern about the harm to civilians, fueling speculation that China was adjusting its stance in response to global revulsion over Russia’s aggression. His annual press conference during the National People’s Congress in Beijing was more of a return to wolf-warrior mode, with the foreign minister repeatedly casting the U.S. in the role of global villain — in Europe, in the Indo-Pacific, in Taiwan. This was interspersed with softball questions from Communist Party-controlled media that allowed Wang to expound at length on China’s achievements and benign intentions in the world.

Whatever the discomfort of straddling its line on Ukraine, it was never likely that the foreign minister would put any meaningful distance between China and Russia. The loss of face would be too great, barely a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping stood beside a beaming Vladimir Putin on the eve of the Winter Olympics as the two proclaimed a “no limits” partnership. The first question Wang faced from an international journalist at Monday’s briefing focused on why China has been unwilling to use the “I” word, and whether he was concerned that its refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion would diminish Beijing’s international standing. It’s a query that continues to reverberate.