The conflict in Ukraine “sounded the alarm for humanity,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Wednesday as China continued to take a neutral position while backing its ally Russia. China has refused to criticize Russia’s war in Ukraine or even call it an invasion of respect for Moscow, and has condemned US-led sanctions against Russia and accused the West of provoking Moscow. “The crisis in Ukraine is once again sounding the alarm for humanity. Countries will surely run into security difficulties if they blindly trust their positions of power, expand military alliances and seek their own security at the expense of others,” Xinhua said. The news agency quoted Xi’s statement as saying. Xi, who did not propose solutions, spoke at the opening of a virtual business forum of the “BRICS” countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In other comments, Xi said sanctions could serve as a “boomerang” and a “double-edged sword” and that the global community would suffer from the “politicization, mechanization and arming” of global economic trends and financial flows. Xi also said China would seek to reduce the damage to international supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which it faced with a tough lockdown and quarantine policy, despite reduced cases and rising economic costs. China’s increasingly dynamic foreign policy and push to dominate world markets have provoked reactions in the US, Europe and elsewhere, including calls for Chinese suppliers to be replaced and dependence on the Chinese economy to be reduced. Xi called on nations to work together on such issues, saying that efforts to “build a small courtyard with high walls” were not in anyone’s interest. “Economic globalization is an objective requirement for the development of the productive forces and an irresistible historical trend,” Xi said. “Going back in history and trying to block the path of others will only block your own path in the end,” he said.
