In China, in June 2022, the deputy minister of foreign affairs was fired because he failed to find out in advance about Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine. It was Le Yuchen who was the departmentʼs chief expert on Russia.
This is reported by the Financial Times with reference to sources in the Chinese government.
Before the war, Yuchen was called one of the main candidates for the post of foreign minister in the future. After his resignation, he was appointed deputy head of the National Administration of Radio and Television.
Five senior Chinese officials told FT that Moscow had not warned Beijing of its intention to invade Ukraine. According to one of the newspaperʼs interlocutors, during the negotiations in early February 2022, Putin told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Russia “doesnʼt rule out taking any measures” if Ukrainian forces attack Russian territory. The Chinese authorities took this as a signal of possible limited military action, rather than a massive invasion.
Now, Beijing considers it likely that Russia will not be able to overcome Ukraine and will emerge from the conflict as a “second-rate state”, significantly weakened economically and diplomatically.
The FT writes that Beijing is preparing a “fundamental reset” in foreign and economic policy, with a focus on improving relations with Europe, which have been damaged by Chinaʼs stance on the war with Ukraine. European countries are motivated to get closer to Beijing in the hope that China can help deter Moscow from using nuclear weapons, European officials and analysts say.