China stands for peace and opposes war: Ambassador Jiming on Ukraine war

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has said the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine has broken hearts of many and that China stands for peace and opposes war.

"This is deeply inscribed in our history and culture. We have made our views clear during discussions on the issue at the United Nations and on many other occasions," he said in a video message posted on the Facebook Page of Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh today.

The Russian invasion in Ukraine since February 24 has left millions of Ukrainians to flee and thousands killed. Moscow is boosting its fighting now mostly in the Eastern states.

Li said on the one hand China upholds international law and universally recognised norms governing international relations with the UN Charter as its core.

"It is our deep belief that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected," he said.

On the other hand, China promotes the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. Should the legitimate security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine have been respected and well settled by the largest existing military alliance, the armed conflict could have been avoided, he said.

"Humanity pays a huge price to be reeducated with the fact that the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation are nothing but a curse to the world," added the Chinese ambassador.

To give peace a chance, China sets two priorities -- promoting peace talks, and to relieve humanitarian crisis, said Li .

He said China has put forward a six-point humanitarian initiative and has, by far, provided millions of dollars of humanitarian aid to the war-torn people in Ukraine.

"To call for truce or hostility, to provide food or lethal weapons, to try to put out the fire or add fuel to it -- which one is easing, and which one is worsening the problem? What do you think?" He asked.