Analysis: Xi Jinping’s self-serving call to Ukrainian president is bad news for Taiwan

Xi Jinping’s long-awaited phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has already proven useful for Beijing at a time when its relations are deteriorating with many foreign nations.

Without putting much skin in the game, the call has given China another chance to trumpet its position as a “responsible major country”, a theme state media is parroting today.

Sending Beijing’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs is a low-stakes gesture – not high-profile enough to get much done, and certainly not high-profile enough for it to be embarrassing if the visit flops. At best the envoy will likely bring a message and test the waters.

But the phone call between Mr Xi and Mr Zelensky has already benefited Beijing.

The third paragraph of Kyiv’s readout of the call “reaffirmed Ukraine’s unwavering position on adherence to the ‘One China’ policy”.

Beijing’s ‘One China’ policy denotes Taiwan, an island nation with a democratically-elected government, as Chinese territory.

Ambition to annex Taiwan

Taipei rejects those claims, a flashpoint that threatens to tip it into war, and one that many experts already worry will be reminiscent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Successfully pushing Ukraine, a country currently defending its own territory, to continue to side with China in its ambition to annex Taiwan is perhaps the biggest indication of just how much power Beijing wields.

The one-hour phone call also serves as a convenient distraction from the diplomatic uproar sparked by recent remarks from China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, who questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine, and all other former Soviet Republics.

Mr Lu’s gaffe raised uncertainty about China’s ambition to play a role as mediator between Ukraine and Russia.

China is quick to point out that in contrast to ‘diplomatic Beijing’ the US supplies arms to Ukraine and is thereby “pouring oil on the fire”.

Mr Xi’s is the only major government on friendly terms with Russia, positioning it as a potential go-between with Ukraine. It did, after all, manage to negotiate a near-impossible: the resumption of diplomatic ties between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia after a seven-year freeze.

But whether or not Beijing does so depends on if it proves favourable to Chinese interests.