China’s foreign secretary Wang Yi has hit back at Nato’s “groundless charges” that Beijing is helping Russia in its war on Ukraine.
He even cautioned the European alliance against provoking conflict.
Mr Wang’s comments, made in a call with his Dutch counterpart, came hours after leaders of Nato member states gathered in Washington DC and issued a declaration on the war.
They accused China of being a “decisive enabler” of Russia through its “large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base”, in some of their harshest remarks yet about Beijing.
They called on China to quit” all materials and social help” to Russia’s war energy such as the supply of dual-use materials, which are items that can be used for both civil and military purposes.
Previous accusations have been made by American nations that Beijing has given Moscow satellite pictures and drone and missile technology. About 70 % of the machine tools and 90 % of the microelectronics imported by Russia are thought to be imported from China, according to the US.
Beijing was even accused of conducting “malicious computer and cross activities, including propaganda” on Nato says.
Mr. Wang told the new foreign minister of the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, on Thursday, that China “absolutely does not take” all these charges and that they have always been a “force for stability and peace.”
In comments carried by state media, he said that China’s different political system and values “should not be used as a reason for Nato to incite confrontation with China”, and called for Nato to “stay within its bounds”.
His remarks were the most recent in a rush of irate reactions from Beijing.
Earlier on Thursday, a foreign government spokeswoman said Nato was smearing China with “fabricated disinformation”, while Beijing’s vision to the EU told the empire to” prevent hyping up the so-called China risk”.
Beijing has longer refuted claims that it has aided Russia in the conflict and maintains that it is a negative force. It has called for a resolution to the conflict and suggested a resolution, which Ukraine has rejected.
However, watchers have also pointed out that Beijing’s purchases of significant amounts of oil and gas have helped stabilize Russia’s sector, which has been hampered by sanctions, and recharge coffers drained by war investing.
Beijing’s official stance on the issue frequently echoes Moscow’s- like them, China also refers to it as a battle, and President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have maintained close ties, both of whom have famously declared that their partnership has” no limits.”
Beijing accuses the US and other Western nations of “fueling the fire” by providing Ukraine with deadly weapons and technologies for defense.
In recent months, many nations have gone one step further and allowed Ukraine to employ their weapons against target inside Russia.