China blames the US and NATO for the ongoing war in Ukraine: ‘NATO expansion to Russia’s borders since 1990 is the most fateful error of American policy’

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reaches its eight-day, the question on everyone’s mind is: Why did Russia invade Ukraine and what does President Putin want? To answer this question and also provide some historical context, last week we wrote about Dr. John Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science and Co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago.

In June 2015, Prof. Mearsheimer assessed the causes of the present Ukraine crisis, the best way to end it, and its consequences for all of the main actors. Prof. Mearsheimer explained said that “Ukraine is the West’s Fault”. He blamed the crisis in Ukraine on NATO’s expansion to the old Soviet Republics. He asserted that “The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked.”

Now China is also blaming the ongoing war on the US and NATO.

Early this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping present in Beijing, China ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony. In a rare in-person meeting, the two leaders issued a statement opposing a “further enlargement of NATO.”

The two leaders called on the U.S. and the US-led NATO military alliance to stop further expansion in eastern Europe. China and Russia “oppose the further expansion” of the U.S-led alliance, calling on the organization to “abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War era,” a statement released by Kremlin reads. Since World War 2, NATO has been expanding into eastern Europe.

Echoing recent Kremlin comments, today, China’s foreign ministry issued a scathing critique of NATO by blaming the United States and NATO expansionism for the war in Ukraine and humanitarian crisis.

China’s foreign ministry statement even used prior US statesmen and officials, notably George Kennan, saying:

“International media lately mentioned many times that George Kennan, former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, suggested to the US government in 1990s that expanding NATO up to Russia’s borders would be the most fateful error of American policy. Regrettably, the US government turned a deaf ear to this.”

In addition, the Foreign Ministry statement cited, “Thomas Friedman, a famous US expert on international relations, wrote in a recent article that ill-considered decision by the US to expand NATO has undermined the relations with Russia and the US government in early years deserves much of the blame. Tulsi Gabbard, a former member of the US House of Representatives, said that the crisis could have been ended and the war easily avoided if President Biden had simply promised not to accept Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO. But they chose not to do so.”

You can read the rest of the QandA below.

Kyodo News: According to Taiwan media reports, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei today. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: This act of Mike Pompeo is simply shameless and futile. 

Global Times: The New York Times on March 2 cited a Western intelligence report as saying that senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The report indicated that senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia’s plans for military actions. What is your comment on this?

Wang Wenbin: The report by the New York Times is pure fake news. Such practice of diverting attention and blameshifting is despicable. The ins and outs of the developments of the Ukraine issue are very clear. The crux of the issue is known to all.

International media lately mentioned many times that George Kennan, former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, suggested to the US government in 1990s that expanding NATO up to Russia’s borders would be the most fateful error of American policy. Regrettably, the US government turned a deaf ear to this. Thomas Friedman, a famous US expert on international relations, wrote in a recent article that ill-considered decision by the US to expand NATO has undermined the relations with Russia and the US government in early years deserves much of the blame. Tulsi Gabbard, former member of the US House of Representatives, said that the crisis could have been ended and the war easily avoided if President Biden had simply promised not to accept Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO. But they chose not to do so.

Those who created the problem should be the ones to undo it. We hope the culprits of the crisis can reflect upon their roles in the Ukraine crisis. They should earnestly shoulder due responsibilities and take real actions to ease the situation and resolve the problem instead of shifting the blame to others.

NHK: The Ukrainian President visited China in 2013 and signed a joint statement with China saying that the Chinese government will provide security assurances to Ukraine. According to the statement, China will offer relevant security assurances to Ukraine when it is invaded with the use of nuclear weapons or threatened by such invasion. Now, Russian President Putin has ordered the country’s nuclear forces to stay on high alert. Do you think Ukraine is now facing the threat of an invasion of nuclear weapons? Do you have any response to this? Will China take measures to protect Ukraine’s security?

Wang Wenbin: According to documents such as statements made by states and the UN Security Council Resolution 984, nuclear-weapon states give security assurances to Ukraine and other non-nuclear-weapon states. The security assurances have clear limitations on the content and are triggered under specific conditions. On the Ukraine issue, the pressing task now is for all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, deescalate the situation and promote the political settlement.