China, at UN, warns against 'expansion of the battlefield' in the Ukraine war

China's Minister for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

UNITED NATIONS — Three days before his communist government turns 75, China's foreign minister warned fellow leaders Saturday against an “expansion of the battlefield” in Russia's war with Ukraine and said the Beijing government remains committed to shuttle diplomacy and efforts to push the conflict toward its end

“The top priority is to commit to no expansion of the battlefield. ... China is committed to playing a constructive role," Wang Yi said. He warned against other nations “throwing oil on the fire or exploiting the situation for selfish gains,” a likely reference to the United States.

Wang's speech appeared to break no new ground, as is generally China's recent practice at the UN General Assembly's annual meeting of leaders. In fact, his boss, Chinese President Xi Jinping, has not participated in the leaders' meeting since 2021 — and then only virtually, during the pandemic. Xi has not attended in person for several years.

On Friday, on the assembly sidelines, China and Brazil sought to build enthusiasm for their peace plan for Ukraine. They said about a dozen countries signed a communique that says they “note” the six-point plan. The plan calls for a peace conference with both Ukraine and Russia and no expansion of the battlefield, among other provisions.

Ukrainian officials have given the proposal a cold shoulder, but the countries that signed the communique are forming a group of “friends for peace” for their UN ambassadors to keep the conversation going among themselves. Ranging from Algeria to Zambia, the members are largely African or Latin American countries. Wang made sure to note Friday that the group doesn’t decree individual countries’ policies.

Sovereignty has long been a talking point for China

China has been an ally of Russia, a nation that has been accused of violating the UN Charter by Secretary-General António Guterres, the U.S. and many world nations. Moscow insists its so-called “special military operation” is in self-defense, which is allowed in the UN Charter.

China's continuing and vehement insistence on respect for other nations' sovereignty is not only a cornerstone of its foreign policy but a foundational ethos for the government of a nation that has traditionally struggled to maintain control at its edges — from Xinjiang and Tibet in the far west to Hong Kong and Taiwan off its east coast.

China's current government was established on Oct. 1, 1949, when it was proclaimed by communist revolutionary-turned-leader Mao Zedong in Beijing's Tiananmen Square after a civil war with Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government. The Nationalists began ruling Taiwan as a self-governed island, and that practice continues today — and is something that China rejects and insists is only a temporary situation for territory it considers sovereign.

“There is no such thing as two Chinas or one China-one Taiwan. On this matter there is no gray zone," Wang said. "Taiwan will eventually return to the embrace of the motherland. This is the overwhelming trend of history that no one can stop.”

The Republic of China — the government in Taiwan established by Chiang Kai-shek — was a member of the United Nations until 1971, when the UN recognized the Beijing government. Since then, Beijing has worked to isolate Taiwan by rewarding nations that recognize it diplomatically and, sometimes, punishing those who do not. At every General Assembly high-level meeting, the leaders of scattered Taiwan-supporting nations — usually small ones — lament at the rostrum about the island's government being shunned by the international community.

Wang's subjects in the speech varied

Wang also weighed in with China's positions on increasing Mideast tensions and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. The latter has always been a key strategic priority for Beijing.

THE MIDEAST: Saying that “the question of Palestine is the biggest wound in human conscience,” Wang reiterated that China supports Palestinian statehood and full UN membership and insisted that a two-state solution is “the fundamental way out.” He did not mention Israel by name or directly reference the war that began when Hamas fighters streamed across the Gaza border into Israel, killing hundreds and taking dozens hostage.

THE KOREAN PENINSULA: As is China's policy, Wang expressed support for a transition “from the armistice to a peace mechanism.” The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war since a 1950-53 conflict separated the peninsula into north and south. China has been a longtime backer of North Korea while the United States is a close ally of the South. He offered a veiled warning about others trying to pull strings in East Asia: “We are firmly against the meddling of countries outside the region.”

The Korean Peninsula broke into the U.S.-supported, capitalistic South Korea and the Soviet-backed, socialist North Korea after its liberation from Japan’s 35-year colonial rule at the end of the World War II in 1945. The two Koreas have the world’s most heavily fortified border.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Wang repeated China's usual talking points, saying that “no country should infringe on another’s internal affairs in the name of human rights" and insisting that China had chosen its own way, which is just as legitimate as others'.

“We have found a path of human rights development that suits China’s national condition,” Wang said.

Other nations and international rights groups have long condemned Beijing's treatment of Tibetans, ethnic Uyghurs in the far-west region of Xinjiang and — more recently — activists in the “special administrative region” of Hong Kong.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz and Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report.