China said yesterday that it hopes that “all parties adhere to a common concept of European security” to “achieve lasting peace and stability” on the continent, after Hungary ratified Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (BORN).
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stressed at a press conference that China expects “all parties to adopt a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable vision of security in Europe” and “respect the legitimate interests and security concerns of each.”
“We hope that, based on mutual respect, Sweden can build a balanced, effective and sustainable security framework with other parties through dialogue and consultation,” Mao said.
He also said that his country “values the development” of its cooperation with Sweden in various areas, a position that Beijing has “consistently” maintained, he added.
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine in February 2022 led Finland and Sweden to end two centuries of military non-alignment and request membership in the Atlantic alliance.
Turkey and Hungary finally gave the green light to Finnish membership last spring, but delayed Swedish membership due to Sweden’s alleged permissiveness towards Kurdish terrorism, in the case of Ankara, and Stockholm’s criticism of the President’s government’s legal reforms. Hungarian, Viktor Orbán.
China has maintained an ambiguous position since the start of the war, calling for respect for the “territorial integrity of all countries,” including Ukraine, and attention to “the legitimate security concerns of all countries,” referring to Russia.