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At least it is not a warning to the US to back off or else. Yet. |
When it comes to the Ukraine proxy war, which started in earnest just
about one year ago with the violent coup that overthrew then president
Yanukovich and replaced him with a local pro-US oligarch, there has been
no ambiguity who the key actors were: on the left, we had the west,
personified by the US, the European Union, and NATO in general; while on
the right we had Russia. In fact, if there was any confusion, it was
about the role of that other "elephant in the room" - China.
To be sure, a question few asked throughout the Ukraine civil war is
just whose side is China leaning toward. After all the precarious
balance of power between NATO and Russia had resulted in a stalemate in
which neither side has an obvious advantage (even as the Ukraine economy
died, and its currency hyperinflated, waiting for a clear winner), and
the explicit or implicit support of China to either camp would make all
the difference in the world, not to mention the world's most formidable
axis.
Today we finally got the answer, and the winner is... this guy:
Speaking in very clear and explicit language, something diplomats are
not used to doing, the Chinese ambassador said the "nature and root
cause" of the crisis was the "game" between Russia and Western powers,
including the United States and the European Union.
He said external intervention by different powers accelerated the crisis and warned that Moscow would feel it was being treated unfairly if the West did not change its approach.
"The West should abandon the zero-sum mentality, and take the real
security concerns of Russia into consideration," Qu was quoted as
saying.
His comments were an unusually public show of understanding from China for the Russian position. China
and Russia see eye-to-eye on many international diplomatic issues but
Beijing has generally not been so willing to back Russia over Ukraine.
As noted above, China has long been very cautious not to be drawn
into the struggle between Russia and the West over Ukraine's future, not
wanting to alienate a key ally. And yet, something changed overnight,
with this very clear language, warning some could say, that China will
no longer tolerate Pax Americana, and even the mere assumption of a
unipolar western world, let alone the reality.
Qu's comments take place just as talks between the United States and its European allies over harsher sanctions against Moscow.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused
Western powers of trying to dominate and impose their ideology on the
rest of world. The United States and European delegations slammed Moscow
for supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Qu said Washington's involvement in Ukraine could "become a distraction in its foreign policy".
And then, Qu's slap in the face of Obama: "The United States
is unwilling to see its presence in any part of the world being
weakened, but the fact is its resources are limited, and it will be to
some extent hard work to sustain its influence in external affairs."
Especially if and when China decides to send a few peacekeepers of
its own into Ukraine. You know - just to make sure US influence in
external affairs isn't "sustained" too much.
Source: Zerohedge
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