China urges restraint, probe of Bucha incident in Ukraine

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian Photo: fmprc.gov.cn

China has been greatly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, especially harm on civilians, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday, noting the reports and images about the deaths of civilians in Bucha are deeply disturbing and that the truth of the incident must be thoroughly investigated.

Speaking at the press conference on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said relevant parties should be restrained and avoid baseless accusations before an investigation is concluded. "The humanitarian issue should not be politicized and any accusation should base on facts."

China supports all initiatives and measures that could help ease the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, has already provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine and will continue to work with the international community to prevent any harm on civilians, Zhao said.

The positive trend toward ceasefire that emerged after the latest Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey, such as Russia to reduce military activities around Kiev and Ukraine to consider neutral position, has been ruined by the incident, even though no independent investigation has been carried out yet, and the situation will become intense again, said Chinese analysts.

Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday that "it seems like the US-led Western countries can't wait for the investigation and desperately want to add more sanctions toward Russia and pull the hard-won positive progress back to tensions and conflicts."

Ukraine has accused Russian military forces of killing a large number of civilians during the occupation of the city of Bucha, located in the western suburbs of Kiev. Russia categorically denied it and presented the UN Security Council with empirical evidence of the Ukrainian side's video falsification and other fakes.

On Tuesday local time, China's permanent representative to the UN Zhang Jun said at the UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine that de-escalation and putting an early end to the conflict in Ukraine is the earnest expectation of the international community and the strong desire of China. Dialogue and negotiation is the only way leading to the door for peace.

Zhang said that under international humanitarian law, civilians should be spared of any forms of violence in armed conflicts. Attacks against civilians are unacceptable and should not occur.

"The relevant circumstances and specific causes of the incident should be verified and established. Any accusations should be based on facts. Before the full picture is clear, all sides should exercise restraint and avoid unfounded accusations," he said.

Zhang said the international humanitarian agencies should maintain neutrality and impartiality, actively mobilize and coordinate more resources, and make unremitting efforts to save lives and protect civilians.