Special representative of the Chinese government, Li Hui, allegedly tried to convince the European vis-a-vis that they should call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, recognising the occupied Ukrainian territories as those belonging to Russia.
Source: The Wall Street Journal with reference to Western officials familiar with the progress of Li Hui’s negotiations in European capitals
Quote from the WSJ: “The Chinese ambassador dispatched to push Beijing’s peace plan for Ukraine carried a clear message: US allies in Europe should assert their autonomy and urge an immediate cease-fire, leaving Russia in possession of the parts of its smaller neighbour it now occupies, according to Western officials familiar talks in capitals across the continent.”
Details: China’s Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The mentioned officials said that Li Hui, who has visited Kyiv, Warsaw, Berlin, Paris and Brussels this month, urged European governments to view China as an economic alternative to Washington and said they should move quickly to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine before it spreads.
Li was supposed to arrive in Moscow on Friday, 26 May.
The officials, while saying it is too early to dismiss Beijing’s efforts, questioned China’s ability to act as an honest broker in any negotiations given how closely it is aligned with Moscow.
The officials said they didn’t think peace would be possible until Russian troops left Ukraine.
“We explained that freezing the conflict is not in the interest of the international community unless there is withdrawal of Russian troops,” a diplomat who spoke to Li said.
According to the diplomat, Li was told that “it is impossible to split Europe from America” and that Europe would not stop supporting Ukraine.
“They are probably testing the unity of the West and trying to show initiative,” another diplomat said.
According to another WSJ interlocutor, China’s main interests appeared to be to ensure that Russia doesn’t lose the war and that Moscow refrains from using nuclear weapons.
China’s 12-point peace proposal, released in February, calls for a cease-fire and peace talks but offers few details. The first point of the declaration is “respecting the sovereignty of all countries”, but it does not call on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
In March, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking of friendship and “common goals.”
The Biden administration, while foreseeing a role for China in an eventual negotiated settlement, has been sceptical of Beijing’s intentions as a peacemaker due to its close relationship with Moscow. The White House in March tried to head off an expected call from Beijing for a cease-fire, with a spokesman saying such a move would serve as “effectively the ratification of Russian conquest.”
Europe is also broadly aligned with Washington in the view that no peace can be achieved in Ukraine without the withdrawal of Russian troops, and its governments are concerned by Xi’s ties with Putin.
According to the outlet, European diplomats said that during their meetings with Li, they tried to convey three key messages: China should continue to put pressure on Russia not to use nuclear weapons, not to provide military aid to Russia and to condemn Moscow’s aggression. They also asked Li to support international efforts to secure the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia had seized.
Li, Beijing’s special representative on Eurasian affairs and a former Chinese ambassador to Russia, has visited Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Belgium, the seat of European Union institutions and NATO.
Diplomats from several of those countries said they coordinated closely to make sure Li got the same message from European allies.
Reminder: In Kyiv, Li Hui told President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy that “there is no panacea for solving this crisis, but all parties need to start from themselves, build mutual trust and create conditions for ending the war and negotiations”.
Credit: Yahoo News
David Adenekan
May 27, 2023 at 2:22 pmMay 25th, 2023
THE OBSCURITY OF GIANT OF AFRICA IN PRESIDENT MOHAMMADU BUHARI ADMINISTRATION: A REJOINDER TO “BYE-BYE TO JÁTIJÀTI”
By David Adenekan.
Still on the “BYE-BYE TO JÁTIJÀTI” that was published in the punch newspaper of May 25th, 2023 by Abimbola Adelakun, why is the blanket of darkness over a country that ought to stand tall in the comity of nations?
Are many Nigerians not seeing the mystery of darkness almost in all facets of the Buhari administration?
Are almost all the stanza lines embedded in our national anthem not failed the acid test in Buhari administration?
Is the stanza line in our national anthem, “our old and native land” in Buhari administration still in the right side of prosperity or history when some indegenous people of this country are being sacked from their native lands and confined to IDP camps in the northern region by marauders or fulani herdsmen?
Also, where is “our old and native land” when the spokesperson for Buhari administration, Femi Adesina asserted that “If you don’t give them your land, they will kill you and take your land”.
Furthermore, is the stanza line in our national anthem, “arise oh compatriots” not an impracticable action item in a repressive and oppressive Buhari administration?
Moreover, who are the compatriots in today’s Nigeria when selfishness, greed, sycophant, opportunism, corruption, kleptomania, filthy lucre, nepotism, ethnic and religious bigotaries are the new orders in today’s Nigeria?
Did Buhari not agree that his administration is an abysmal failure and is now asking for forgiveness or else, he will run to Niger Republic where he has lavished Nigeria’s tax payers money to develop another country’s infrastructures at the detriment of Nigeria citizens; “Niger Republic will defend me?”
Is this not an impunity of the highest order?
Yes, Buhari has made Nigeria very less important in the comity of nations.
An obscurity indeed!
What aided the obscurity, is that, many Nigerians are always falling for the dummies of Buhari administration by not asking questions.
“To serve our father land with love and strength and faith that labor of our heroes past shall never been in vain.” Did Buhari translate this stanza line as embedded in our national anthem into reality?
What is President Muhammadu Buhari score-card in less than five days to the end of his tenure; is it not an abysmal failure?
1. Naira exchange rate to a dollar under former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) was N195 and now under this mischievous Buhari administration, it is N710 to a dollar.
2. The national debt, N46.25 trillion is unprecedented in the history of this country. Please, cross check with the current figure released by National Bureau Of Statistics.
3. Today, Nigeria remains the world headquarters of extreme poverty.
4. The rising surge of insecurity across the country is pathetic and worrisome. Few days ago, hundreds of people were massacred in both Benue and Plateau states by the Fulani Herdsmen.
5. The per capital income and quality of life is fast declining; malnutrition and poor health care delivery are the norms. This is coupled with the low life expectancy.
6. A bag of rice during the GEJ that was N7,000 is now #45,000 under Buhari. Staple foods are now very costly commodities for the masses to buy .
7. Our professionals, like doctors, engineers, nurses and lecturers are jetting out of the country in an uncontrollable manners (JAPA).
8. A continuous increase in per liter of gasoline or petrol that has caused untold economic hardship on the masses.
9. Inflationary gap defies all logic in a recession economy.
10. Our value system is bastardized to the extent that many deviant behaviors like lies, deceit, killings, stealing, ritualism, robbery, corruption, 419 / Yahoo+, abduction are now the norms.
Hmm! Some parents are buying laptops for their jobless children to learn how to engage in the illicit fraudulent activity called 419 / yahoo+. Yes, this is the mindset of today’s Nigeria; it is a normal behavior.
Some mothers are even trading their young daughters for sex to survive the challenge of a people that are wallowing in abject poverty. What a sorry situation under the Buhari administration!
The list is endless.
Yes, Buhari Administration is morally corrupt, vindictive and oppressive. A reason why Punch National Newspaper prefixed him as General Muhammadu Buhari in a civilian government.
Today, they are making a big deal in Dangote Refinery. Are they not celebrating the concept or idea of 19th and twentieth centuries in a 21st century economy where the invention of renewable energy like solar energy, waste energy, gas energy, wind energy and a more sophisticated hydro power energy is highly gaining momentum and the use of crude oil energy may becomes obsolete or less use before the end of this century???
There are many unanswered questions begging for answers and, one of them is the acknowledgement of Aliko Dangote of the huge role played by Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the nation’s Apex Bank; Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the impact of his financial support. The second of these questions is the disclosure by Godwin Emefiele that the loan obtained to establish this monstrous edifice has been repaid up to the tune of 70%. Now, what is the exact role played by the CBN Governor and yes, if there were loans sourced and secured from the CBN, who approved and authorized these loans?? Nigerians are begging for answers to these questions.
Also, for many who have rushed to the stock market to buy from their so called over valued Initial Public Offer (IPO), you are in for a shock of your life in some years to come.
“To serve with heart and might. One nation born in freedom, peace and unity”, the question that is begging for answer in this stanza line of our national anthem, is that, where is the peace and unity when some are first class citizens and others are second class citizens. The right to be president is an exclusive privilege of the oligarchs or a protégé of the feudal lord from the west geo political zone; and this stoogy or puppet must enter into an unholy convenant with the northern aristocrats not to ever crossed the boundary of running a true federal system of government that will give every region a sense of belonging and allow every region to develop at its own pace; an impressive true meaning of unity in diversity.
Did El Rufai not assert that the Igbos can never be President of Nigeria?
Did Buhari not sideline the Igbo in the formation of his cabinet? Did he not say “those 5% that did not vote for him will be less represented in his government than the 96% that voted for him?
Is Muhammadu Buhari a patriot or national leader?
Did the grand patron of Myetti Allah (an umbrella organization for herdsmen in Nigeria) run an all inclusive government?
How do we reinforce peace and unity in the unpatriotic leadership style of President Muhammadu Buhari?
Did President Muhammadu Buhari in his almost eight years of mal-administration and poor governance not consign the potentialities of a country called Nigeria into obscurity in the comity of nations???
Yes, Nigeria is indeed an empty giant of Africa in Buhari poor governance.
In the final analysis, the very poor performance of President Muhammadu Buhari is an unspeakable problem for the incoming administration.
YES, THE OBSCURITY OF GIANT OF AFRICA IN BUHARI ADMINISTRATION IS A SHAME OF A COUNTRY CALLED NIGERIA!!!
AGAIN, “BYE-BYE TO JÁTIJÀTI.”
Time will tell.
David Adenekan Is The Editor Of Shekinah International Magazine And A Media Expert. He Writes From Chicago, Illinois.
Email address: davidadenekan5@gmail.com.