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China’s Official Media on Russia Taking over Crimea

On March 19, People’s Daily published an editorial titled, “One Should Not Take a One-Sided View to Solve Complex Issues.” The author used the pen name Zhong Sheng, which stands for China’s Voice. It said that one should have a global, balanced view to look at the Ukraine issue. “The most important thing is, in the legal and maintaining-order framework, to consider fully the fundamental interests of Ukraine’s ethnic groups and local people.”

It also said that the West started to reflect on the issue and its previous approach. “Some people realized that violence and instability in Ukraine does not satisfy Russia’s interest, nor does it satisfy the world’s interest.” “Kissinger expressed fear and doubts about ‘confrontation’: ‘Taking Ukraine as part of the Russia-West confrontation will destroy the hope of getting Russia and the West (especially Russia and Europe) into the global cooperation system in the next few decades.’ An expert from the European Council on Foreign Relations [the article gave the name of 马伊斯特; Chinascope didn’t find his English name] said more straightforwardly, ‘On the issue of Ukraine, the EU made a mistake at the very beginning. … The EU planned for a confrontation for which it didn’t even prepare itself. Now it has no proper approach to react to the crisis.’”

On March 19, Xinhua republished a Huanqiu article, “In His Speech, Russian President Putin Thanked China for Understanding Russia’s Stand on Crimea.” The article stated that on Tuesday, when Russian President Putin delivered a speech on the Crimean issue at a meeting of the Russian Parliament in the Kremlin, he thanked China for its support of Russia’s position. “We are grateful to all those who understood our actions in Crimea,” Putin said. “We are grateful to the people of China.”

On March 18, Huanqiu published another article, “Putin Makes a Lightning Announcement on the Crimea’s Coming Back Home; Patriotic Upsurge Sweeps Russia.” It said that Russia’s action “put Russia and the West into an unprecedented crisis after the post-cold war. On the other hand, a patriotic upsurge is now sweeping through Russia.” Putin said that “on the Ukraine issue, the Western partners eventually crossed the red line. Russia will no longer keep silent but will resolutely defend its national interest.” Putin “also expressed his gratitude to China and India for their support.”

Source:
[1] People’s Daily, March 19, 2014
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2014-03/19/nw.D110000renmrb_20140319_6-03.htm
[2] Xinhua, March 19, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-03/19/c_126285319.htm
Original article on Huanqiu, March 18, 2014
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-03/4913500.html
[3] Huanqiu, March 19, 2014
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-03/4913712.html