China ‘asked Russia to delay Ukraine war until after Olympics, US officials say’

China has denied the claims saying they were “intended to blame-shift” onto them
Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin
AP
Elly Blake3 March 2022

China asked Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the Winter Olympics, a US official said, according to reports.

Senior Chinese officials made the request in early February, citing a Western intelligence report, The New York Times reported.

The intelligence report reportedly indicated China had some level of knowledge about Russia’s plans or intentions to invade Ukraine, prior to Vladimir Putin launching the military operation.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that China had made the request but declined to provide details.

But China has denied the claims saying they were “intended to blame-shift” onto them.

“The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

The US State Department, the CIA and the White House National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment.

Russia launched the attack on February 24, just days after the Beijing Winter Olympics had ended.

Russian leader Putin and China’s Xi Jinping met at the start of the games on February 4.

During the meeting, the pair pledged their alliance and said they wanted to collaborate more against Western powers.

The intelligence on the exchange between the Chinese and Russian officials was collected by a Western intelligence service and was considered credible by officials reviewing it, The New York Times said.

Bonny Lin, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said it was unclear how much Xi knew about Putin’s intentions.

She noted China had been to slow to evacuate citizens from Ukraine which suggested it was not fully prepared.

“Given the evidence we have so far, I think we can’t rule out either possibility definitely – that Xi didn’t know (which is bad) and that Xi may have known (which is also bad),” she said.

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