China refuses to call attack on Ukraine an ‘invasion,’ blames U.S.

BEIJING — China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson refused to categorize Russia’s attack as an “invasion” during a press conference Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an attack on Ukraine earlier in the day, and explosions in Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine followed. Ukraine’s military claimed to be engaged in fighting within its borders, and Ukraine President Volodimyr Zelenskyy described the violence as an invasion to destroy the country.

Within hours, leaders from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and beyond condemned the Russian attack.

China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying was asked by reporters several times whether she would call Russia’s attacks an invasion but she repeatedly avoided giving a yes or no answer.

In response to one reporter, Hua appeared to express frustration at the question and said, “The U.S. has been fueling the flame, fanning up the flame, how do they want to put out the fire?”

That’s according to an official translation of her Mandarin-language remarks.

Hua said Russia was an “independent major country” that could take its own actions. She referred repeatedly to Russia’s government statements on Ukraine, such as a claim from Moscow’s defense ministry that Russian armed forces do not strike Ukrainian cities.

“China is closely following the development of the situation. What you are seeing today is not what we have wished to see,” Hua said. “We hope all parties can go back to dialogue and negotiation.”

Earlier in the week, Putin formally recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe had attempted to prevent an attack with a series of sanctions on Russian individuals, financial institutions and sovereign debt.

But on Thursday the long-feared Russian invasion of Ukraine began, as explosions were reported in the capital of Kyiv and other cities around the country.

“China is clearly sympathetic to Russian perspectives,” said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, based in Beijing.

“China thinks that it’s the NATO expansion and other threats from the U.S. and NATO” that ultimately prompted Russia to defend “its legitimate interests,” he said. “In other words, I think China feels Russia feels it is forced to do what it is doing.”

“Because Russia is now receiving wide international condemnation and criticism I think China wants to avoid being seen as part of this axis,” Zhao said.

But “when it comes to public statements China has been very careful,” he said. “It’s hard for China to openly support this Russian behavior given this implications for China’s own security and China’s relationship with Taiwan.”

Beijing has repeatedly declared it intends to reunify with Taiwan….