Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday urged Western nations to "stop fueling the fire" in the Ukraine war, and expressed Beijing's worries about an escalation of the crisis and the possibility that it could spiral out of control.
"We urge certain countries to immediately stop fueling the fire, stop shifting blame to China, and stop touting 'Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow,'" Qin said in a speech at a security forum in Beijing ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Friday.
China has reacted sharply to U.S. allegations that Beijing is considering providing lethal weapons to Russia to support its Ukraine war effort, saying Washington has been "pouring weapons into the battlefield" and is "in no position" to tell the Asian country what to do.
Qin maintained that China has taken an "objective and impartial" stance since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis and vowed to continue to promote peace talks and play a constructive role in improving the situation.
With the leaders of China and Russia reaffirming last year a friendship that has "no limits," Beijing has opposed sanctions on Moscow by Western nations over its aggression in Ukraine.
Some Western countries including Japan and the United States have expressed concern about China's territorial ambitions with regard to the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly warned, "Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow."
Qin stressed that China stands "firmly against any form of hegemonism and power politics, against the Cold war mentality and bloc confrontation and against any foreign interference" in its internal affairs.
Communist-led China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Beijing regards the island as a renegade province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
On the Korean Peninsula situation, Qin said China will pursue the establishment of a peace mechanism and denuclearization of the region by addressing the "legitimate concerns of all parties in a balanced manner" to safeguard peace and stability there.
North Korea, which relies on China as its most influential economic ally, has recently fired ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan after the United States and its East Asian allies held joint military exercises.
