China’s Xi says international disputes should be resolved via dialogue, not sanctions

Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday remained steadfast in his government’s position that international disputes should be resolved through dialogue and not sanctions.

Speaking at a forum in Hainan, Xi said China is “committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries” and not interfering in their internal affairs.

“We should uphold the principle of indivisibility of security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the building of national security on the basis of insecurity in other countries,” Xi said. 

“We, humanity, are living in an indivisible security community. It has been proven time and again that the Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, that hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace and that bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century,” Xi went onto say.

China has remained neutral in regards to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Zhao Lijian said this approach was “constructive” and stressed that it puts Beijing “on the right side of history.”

The US has criticized China for its neutrality on the Ukrainian issue and has even warned Beijing of “the implications and consequences” were it to decide to provide any material support for Russia.