On Friday, September 5th, Beijing said it “strongly opposes” calls to put economic pressure on China, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s appeal to European countries over the war in Ukraine.
China has neither denounced Russia’s war nor demanded its forces withdraw, and numerous Ukrainian allies suspect China has supported Moscow. China maintains it is a neutral party, repeatedly calling for an end to the fighting while accusing Western nations of prolonging the conflict by supplying arms to Ukraine.
Speaking by video conference with European leaders gathered in Paris on Thursday, September 4th, Trump urged them to put pressure on China, and also said “Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war,” a senior White House official said.
When asked on Friday about Trump’s remarks, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing was “neither creator of this (Ukraine) crisis nor a party to it.”
“We firmly oppose the practice of constantly dragging China into the matter, and we strongly oppose the imposition of so-called economic pressure on China,” spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press briefing.
