Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in China visits CCG

And Henry Huiyao Wang's interactions with European diplomats.

On March 15, 2023, Zhanna Leshchynska, Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in China, and Valerii Bronskykh, First Secretary of the Political Section of the Embassy, visited the Center for China and Globalization (CCG). They met with Henry Huiyao WANG, founder and President of CCG, Sharon Haiyu XU, Deputy Secretary-General of CCG, and Roger Mengqi WU, CCG Research Fellow.

During the visit, Leshchynska provided an update on the war in Ukraine, and Wang introduced CCG's efforts in promoting relevant international exchange and communication. They discussed China's position, explored ways to end the war and restore peace, and China's potential role in the process.

Leshchynska is a veteran Ukrainian diplomat, having served four terms - ten years so far - in China since 1999.

The Ukraine embassy reported the visit on its Chinese-language Weibo account

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, CCG promptly released research reports such as 《乌克兰危机不会终结全球化》The Ukraine Crisis Won’t End Globalization (in Chinese). CCG also organized multiple dialogues and seminars with scholars from China and Europe and put forward suggestions to end the war on numerous Chinese domestic and international media platforms, receiving positive responses from multiple parties.

Henry Huiyao Wang wrote in a Guest Essay in The New York Times on March 13, 2022

It’s Time to Offer Russia an Offramp. China Can Help With That.

Casualties are mounting in Ukraine. Bombs continue to fall. More than 2 million refugees have fled the fighting.

Vladimir Putin seems to have assumed he could get a swift victory, underestimating the fierce resistance from Ukraine. Two weeks in, Russia is intensifying its assault on Ukraine, and Western nations in turn are intensifying their financial and economic punishments against Russia, including by triggering the financial “nuclear option” — banning some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system. Meanwhile, Mr. Putin has put his actual nuclear forces on high alert.

We are now in an escalatory spiral. Mounting pressure on Mr. Putin will likely make the situation more dangerous as Russia’s leader feels pushed to take increasingly extreme measures — such as what we’ve seen in the past few days with the Russian army’s siege tactics and attacks on civilian areas.

And so, unpalatable as some in the West may find the idea, it is time to offer the Russian leader an offramp with China’s help. On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping of China held a virtual summit with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, urging a diplomatic solution.

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This month, Henry Huiyao Wang wrote in his column in the South China Morning Post

As Ukraine war drags on, why not give China’s peace plan a chance?

There are basically two ways that wars end: in an outright victory or with a negotiated settlement. After a year of fighting in Ukraine, there is a growing consensus that neither side can secure a total victory any time soon.

Russia appears to lack the capability to overcome Ukraine while Western support continues. But Russian forces have dug in and it looks increasingly unlikely that Ukraine can eject them, even with better kit from the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not give up – he sees defeat as an existential threat and has the resources to fight a prolonged war of attrition. And there remains the nightmarish possibility he could reach for the nuclear option if backed into a corner.

Meanwhile, sanctions have not crippled the Russian economy, and there is no sign of a serious effort to topple Putin. Any putsch is more likely to come from the ultranationalist right, and unlikely to end the fighting.

The longer the war drags on, the more suffering it causes. Odds are, we will be marking another grim anniversary next year – and who knows how many after that. Countless people will be killed, wounded or made homeless. Disrupted flows of grain and energy will worsen hunger in vulnerable regions and aggravate global inflation, feeding instability.

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At the invitation of a Minister-Counsellor of the European Union Delegation, Henry Huiyao Wang was invited to brief a meeting of the 27 EU member states’ Deputy Heads of Mission in China, including on the recently concluded “Two Sessions,” the new State Council, changes to the Party and State institutions, a new phase of high-quality economic development, and China's opening up to the outside world.

Wang also shared his insights on China-Europe relations, the impact of the war in Europe on China-Europe relations, and cultural exchanges.

Recently, Henry Huiyao Wang was invited by Hannes Hanso, the Estonian Ambassador to China, and Tiia Miller, Deputy Head of Mission, to a luncheon discussion at the Estonian Ambassador's residence with ambassadors and representatives from Romania, Latvia, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Iceland.