China pushes its peace plan ahead of Swiss summit – Reuters

China, which is planning to skip the Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15-16, is promoting its alternative plan to other governments. This was reported by 10 diplomats, one of whom called Beijing's campaign a "hidden boycott" of the global meeting in Switzerland.

This was reported by Reuters. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that 45 countries have already supported Beijing's peace plan.

While ninety countries have registered to participate in the Peace Summit in Switzerland. Russia, which was not invited to the Peace Summit in Switzerland, said that this meeting would be useless. China, which has close ties with Russia, said it would not participate in the conference because it did not meet Beijing's requirements for the participation of both sides of the conflict.

During conversations with developing countries, China did not openly criticize the Swiss summit and did not directly ask them to refrain from participating, Beijing diplomats said.

However, informed sources said Beijing told developing countries that the meeting would only prolong the war. Two diplomats familiar with the matter added that China has told Western powers that many developing countries share its views on the conference.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its lobbying efforts. Last week, spokesman Mao Ning said: "China sincerely hopes that the peace conference will not turn into a platform for creating a bloc confrontation. Not attending it does not mean not supporting peace."

Diplomats also said that on the eve of the Peace Summit, China stepped up its information campaign through meetings with foreign officials, phone calls, and messages to foreign missions on the Chinese platform WeChat.

Last month, Beijing's special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visited Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates and met with representatives of developing countries at their embassies in Beijing.

In explaining its refusal to attend the summit, China sought to attract developing countries to support its six-point peace plan, which was presented jointly with Brazil in May. The plan calls for an international peace conference "at an appropriate time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties and honest discussion of all peace plans."

Beijing's proposal was supported by 45 countries, and more than 20 countries have either joined or are "seriously considering" the possibility.

"Reuters was unable to independently determine what impact China's lobbying had, but the number of registered participants at the Lucerne summit was down from the 107 that Zelenskyy's office said were confirmed in early June," the article says.

In Asia, US allies the Philippines and Japan, as well as Thailand, Singapore, and East Timor, confirmed their participation in the Peace Summit. At the same time, Malaysia said it would abstain, as did Cambodia, which has close economic ties with China. Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen denied that he was pressured by Beijing to avoid the conference. Indonesia will send its ambassador to Bern for the conference. Vietnam also did not express a clear position.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

– China has announced that it will not participate in the Global Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland this summer. They claimed that the event allegedly did not meet Beijing's requirements that a representative of the aggressor country Russia should participate.

– Soon after, China responded to President Zelenskyy's accusations of attempts to disrupt the Peace Summit. Beijing said that China has never "fanned or stoked the flames" of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

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