Top Chinese diplomat meets Putin in Moscow
'Strategic coordination' on agenda amid war in Ukraine, upcoming Xi visit.
China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Wang Yi met on Wednesday with Russia President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The two discussed the war in Ukraine and prospects for a visit by China President Xi Jinping to Moscow in coming months.
Saying “the current international situation is complicated and grim”, Wang told Putin the China-Russia relationship “is mature, tough and as stable as Mount Tai,” a reference to one of China’s Sacred Mountains.
Wang told Putin “China is willing to work with Russia to maintain strategic resolve, deepen political trust, strengthen strategic coordination, expand practical cooperation and safeguard the legitimate interests of both countries,” according to a readout in the state-run China People’s Daily.
Russia has suffered horrific casualties from its invasion of Ukraine but Putin outlined long-term plans on Tuesday to continue the fighting the war, which he cast as a campaign to recover Russian territory and defend Russia against Western powers.
Wang also met on Wednesday with Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and on Tuesday with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s National Security Council.
Russia: No ‘peace plan’ discussed
Lavrov and Wang did not discuss a "Chinese peace plan" for resolving the conflict over Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said according to TASS, the Russian news agency.
"It is true Ukraine featured prominently on the agenda of the Lavrov-Wang talks. The Chinese partners briefed us on their views on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as approaches to its political settlement. There was no discussion of any special 'plan'," Zakharova said.
Moscow views Ukraine’s conditions for peace – removal of all Russian troops, reparations, and war crime trials – as ultimatums under which “a conversation is impossible,” she said, further blaming the US for seeking to weaken Russia and contain China.
US claims intel China may arm Russia
NATO officials have seen “some signs” that China may be planning to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.
“We have seen some signs that they may be planning for that and of course NATO allies, the United States, have been warning against it because this is something that should not happen,” Stoltenberg said. “China should not support Russia’s illegal war.”
Stoltenberg spoke in Warsaw, following a meeting of NATO’s eastern members, the “Bucharest Nine”, with US President Joe Biden on the region’s security.
The US has briefed allies about intelligence regarding China’s spy balloon program and emerging details about China’s consideration of sending lethal weapons to Russia. And the US is requesting diplomats across the world push back against Beijing’s narratives, two unnamed US officials told Politico.
Public release weighed, China warned
Biden administration officials are considering publicly releasing the intelligence information showing China is considering whether to supply weapons to Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed officials.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to address the UN Security Council on February 24, the anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion, the WSJ noted.
At the Pentagon, a Defense Department spokesman advised reporters the US has not yet seen China giving lethal aid to Russia but that Chinese officials have not ruled out giving Russia weapons. Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh warned there would be “consequences for China should they deepen their relationship with Russia.”
China already has been supplying Russian defense firms with dual-use equipment and aircraft parts, while also buying Russian oil and gas diverted by sanctions from other markets.
“It would certainly be a miscalculation of China to provide lethal aid to Russia,” she said.
China coal mine collapse
At least two are dead, and 53 are missing in a massive coal mine collapse in Inner Mongolia, according to state media reports.
President Xi demanded all-out efforts in the search and rescue of the missing and treatment of the injured, Xinhua reported, after a massive landslide at an open pit mine operated by the Xinjing Coal Mining Company.
Workers and vehicles were buried in the disaster which happened at around 1 pm local time at the mine, according to state broadcaster CCTV. More than 300 rescue workers had been dispatched to the scene but recovery efforts were impeded by a second landslide early Wednesday evening.
Mine accidents and deaths are frequent in China which recorded 367 accidents and 518 deaths in 2022, according to official data cited by the South China Morning Post.
State enterprises to drop Big Four auditors
China’s Ministry of Finance has signaled to state-owned enterprises they should phase out so-called Big Four auditors over concerns about data security, Bloomberg reported.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Deloitte & Touche should be replaced by Chinese auditors when present contracts expire, people familiar with the matter told the financial wire.
No deadline has been set for the changes and replacements may happen gradually. Potential winners of new business are Pan-China Certified Public Accountants, BDO China Shu Lun Pan CPAs, Moore Global, and RSM China, Bloomberg said.
US securities laws require financial statements of publicly traded companies listed on US exchanges to be audited by firms registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Some Chinese companies have faced delisting from US exchanges because of accounting concerns.
Top investment banker goes missing
Bao Fan, founder of investment bank China Renaissance, has gone missing, his company has disclosed in an “inside information” regulatory filing in Hong Kong.
Chinese media have reported authorities summoned Bao, 52, to assist an investigation of a former executive of his company who worked at a state-owned financial institution, according to the New York Times.
Businesspeople who spoke to the Times said Bao’s disappearance was having a chilling influence among China’s entrepreneurs as Xi Jinping’s government intensifies control over the economy.