The visit of French President Immanuel Macron and the Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to China, which proposed a twelve point peace proposal for ending the Ukraine war, has led to a rising possibility of accelerating the China mediated peace process. According to several sources including the BBC, the French president with a large business delegation and the head of the European Commission flew to China on Wednesday for a three-day visit and they will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on ending the war. Their talks may be helpful to remove the inertia of the Chinese peace effort and pave the way for moving forward for resolving the Ukraine crisis earlier.
It is pertinently notable that China’s twelve point peace proposal has received a warmly welcoming tone from Moscow and a cautiously welcoming tone from Ukraine but it was criticized by the West including the United States and NATO because of several causes including China’s growing support to Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine war with the Russian military intervention more than a year ago and its pro-Russian proposal. Despite growing expectations from last month’s visit of Xi Jinping to Russia, the peace mediation effort of the Asian country was a complete failure. Probably, China’s lack of international mediation experience — along with other causes — played a role in the complete failure to make some progress on the China mediated peace efforts.
But since there is a growingly positive indication from the West for China’s role in ending the Ukraine war, even if the western countries have differing points of its solution, the possibility of the acceleration of the Chinese mediation and its success in ending the war earlier is probably high. It is relevant to note that the French president is, according to several sources including the BBC, in the view that there are “points of convergence with Chinese proposals” on ending the Ukraine war, although France — along with other western countries — has criticized China’s proposed peace plan and support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from Ukraine for the solution to the war.
Definitely, it is desired that China’s peace efforts are accelerated and continued for ending the Ukraine war. Notably, the Ukraine war has turned out to be complex because of the continuation of Russia’s shelling in Ukraine, geopolitical rivalry and relentless arms supplies of the West to Ukraine, along with unprecedented sanctions and counter-sanctions and several other causes. But China needs to make earnest efforts reflecting al the concerns of the war to help reach acceptable solutions to the Ukraine war. Despite the complexity of the war, continued peace efforts and talks among the warring parties may help to find acceptable solutions. Also, the earnest intention of all the parties is imperative to find acceptable solutions early.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
