China's top diplomat reiterates calls for dialogue over Ukraine crisis

[February 18, 2023]  (Reuters) - China has "neither stood by idly nor thrown fuel on the fire" regarding the crisis in Ukraine, and continues to call for peace and dialogue, top diplomat Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi speaks during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany February 18, 2023. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

"I suggest that everybody starts to think calmly, especially friends in Europe, about what kind of efforts we can make to stop this war," said Wang, the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Wang also said there were "some forces that seemingly don't want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon," without specifying to whom he was referring.

China will set out its position on settling the Ukraine crisis in a document that will state all countries' territorial integrity must be respected, Wang said.

Asked to reassure the audience that military escalation was not imminent over the Taiwan Strait, Wang said Taiwan "independence forces" are incompatible with peace.

China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own.

"If we want to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait, we must resolutely oppose Taiwan independence, and we must resolutely maintain the one-China policy."

(Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen, China, Ryan Woo in Beijing and Laura Lin in Shanghai; editing by Jason Neely)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2023 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.