In the following article, Kemran Mamedov, a staff member of the Confucius Institute at the Free University of Tbilisi in Georgia, assesses the prospects for China-Ukraine relations, noting that the allegations made against China by powerful forces in Ukrainian society, from President Zelensky downwards, are generally “devoid of substantive content and carry a politically biased undertone.” In contrast, China has consistently sent signals of readiness for constructive dialogue with Ukraine, but Kyiv “rejects the proposed path of finding common ground in relations with Beijing.” In fact, a “careful analysis of Ukraine’s media landscape leads to the conclusion that the country’s leadership is launching a large-scale information campaign to discredit China’s policy.”
On March 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again made a loud accusation against China, stating that Beijing is “not involved” in the process of peaceful resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “It is very important for us to involve China not in the war, but specifically in ending the war… For us, China’s participation would certainly be valuable, but so far we do not see its involvement,” said the Ukrainian leader.
The Ukrainian president’s attacks on China are traditionally devoid of substantive content and carry a politically biased undertone, which immerses the Ukrainian audience in an atmosphere of fictitious explanations for Ukraine’s military and economic failures as the result of cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
Meanwhile, China is consistently pursuing a policy of seeking a diplomatic solution to the deep and systemic contradictions between Russia and Ukraine. During a briefing at the United Nations Security Council on February 17, dedicated to Ukraine, China’s Permanent Representative, Fu Cong, stated that Beijing holds an open and clear position on the Ukrainian issue, namely its unconditional willingness to assist in a peaceful dialogue. He emphasised that China is neither the creator of the Ukrainian crisis nor a participant in it. Earlier, during negotiations with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that China and Ukraine should adhere to the “right course and support the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations,” highlighting Beijing’s commitment to the principles of mutual respect, equality, and mutually beneficial cooperation.
However, despite China’s numerous signals of readiness for constructive dialogue with Ukraine, Kyiv rejects the proposed path of finding common ground in relations with Beijing. Ukraine is rapidly becoming one of the key players in anti-China media campaigns. Ukrainian authorities, from the top leadership to ordinary officials, regularly accuse Beijing of escalating the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and call on the international community to impose sanctions against China. These narratives are actively promoted by Ukrainian experts and journalists in the press and social media. Dozens of analysts and political commentators almost daily publish standard anti-China articles and interviews based on pre-prepared anti-China theses crafted by political technologists.
For example, on March 5, Ukrainian analyst and China expert Oleksiy Chigadaev, in an interview for the Ukrainian publication Apostrophe, unjustifiably claimed that China benefits from maintaining the current status quo, where both Russia and Ukraine remain weakened and dependent on Chinese imports and technologies. He also added that “an ideal Europe for China is a Europe that is divided. A Europe that does not have a unified position.” On March 3, Ukrainian military expert Ihor Romanenko, from a biased position, commented for the TSN mass media outlet on China’s role in the development of the situation surrounding Iran. According to him, Beijing is concerned about the trend of “forcing allies out of the so-called ‘axis of evil’ [China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea].” “Therefore, the Chinese factor here could be decisive, and China’s actions… could become more active,” Romanenko believes.
A careful analysis of Ukraine’s media landscape leads to the conclusion that the country’s leadership is launching a large-scale information campaign to discredit China’s policy. If previously, the Ukrainian expert community mostly broadcast the anti-China agenda to a domestic audience, more recently, there has been an activation of Ukrainian “influence operations” in European countries.
A restart of Ukrainian-Chinese relations towards “warming” is unlikely to be possible without a fundamental revision by Kyiv of its approaches to building dialogue with Beijing. The excessive emotionality of the Ukrainian leadership, bordering on scandal, and its irresponsible infantilism must give way to state wisdom and pragmatism. After all, the maturity of a state, like that of an individual, is confirmed by the ability to take responsibility for failures, not shift the blame onto others. Over time, the realisation of the real picture of the world may come to Ukrainian leaders, prompting them to abandon the deliberate construction of an “enemy image” in the form of China and the projection of anti-China sentiments on the world stage.
