Qin Gang made the statement at a news conference in Beijing on Friday, the AP news agency reported.
China says it won't sell arms to either Russia or Ukraine
Meeting the media alongside his visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, China’s top diplomat said: “Regarding the export of military items, China adopts a prudent and responsible attitude.”
Qin stated: “China will not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict.”
He added that Beijing would also “manage and control the exports of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations.”
He was referring to products that can be used for either civilian or military purposes, according to news outlets.
Qin Gang is the highest-level Chinese official to make such an explicit statement about weapons sales to Russia, the AP reported.
He was responding to concerns from the United States and other countries, including Poland, that China was considering the supply of military assistance to Russia, according to news outlets.
China has backed Russia politically and rhetorically in the conflict in Ukraine, while proclaiming that it remains neutral, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.
China has blamed the United States and NATO for provoking the conflict in Ukraine, refused to criticise Russia’s actions, and criticised economic sanctions against the Kremlin, The Guardian noted.
China 'willing to facilitate negotiations’ to find ‘peaceful resolution' to Ukraine conflict
Qin on Friday also restated China’s willingness to help "facilitate negotiations" to find "a peaceful resolution" to the conflict in Ukraine, adding that all parties should remain “objective and calm.”
He said: “Territory is indivisible, and security is equally indivisible. Without recognition of the security interests of a particular party, crises and conflicts are inevitable.”
He pledged: “China is willing to continue to work for peace, and hopes that all parties involved in the crisis will remain objective and calm, and make constructive efforts to resolve the crisis through negotiations.”
Germany urges China ‘to influence Russia to stop its aggression’ in Ukraine
Meanwhile, Germany’s Baerbock told reporters that, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China bore a special responsibility for helping end the conflict, the AP reported.
She said Germany wanted “China to influence Russia to stop its aggression,” according to The Guardian.
Germany’s top diplomat welcomed China’s stated willingness to broker a solution in the Ukraine war, but added: “I have to be honest and say I ask myself why China’s positioning doesn’t include the call on aggressor Russia to stop the war.”
Friday is day 415 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, AP, The Guardian