China’s Refusal to Condemn Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Fuels Uncertainty for Finland: Foreign Minister

Finnish flag (front), together with European Union country flags, in Lahti, Finland, in a file photo. Gerard Cerles/AFP/Getty Images

Finland’s Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen, has suggested that her nation has become uncertain of China because of the regime’s reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has continued since February 2022.

She said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could play a role in resolving the war in Ukraine, given its influence over Russia and status as a member of the U.N. Security Council.

“Of course, we hope that China would also condemn the invasion,” Ms. Valtonen told Nikkei Asia on Oct. 1.

She said Finland now views China as “a question mark,” given its refusal to condemn the war.

The Chinese regime has refused to condemn Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. China and Russia signed a “no-limit partnership” last year, and Beijing has emerged as Moscow’s most important trade partner amid crippling sanctions from the West.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. Sergei Karpukhin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Earlier in March, CCP leader Xi Jinping traveled to Russia for talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders discussed Beijing’s proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, a plan largely dismissed in the West as a ploy to buy Russia time to regroup its forces.

The CCP released a “12-point” peace plan on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion as part of the effort to portray itself as a neutral broker to mediate an end to the war, although Beijing didn’t condemn the war.

“I don’t think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on March 21.

“They haven’t condemned this invasion. They haven’t stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy.”

Finland Seeks Stronger Security Ties

During the interview with Nikkei, Ms. Valtonen said Finland is seeking wider cooperation with the European Union and NATO, as well as like-minded countries—such as Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Canada—in dealing with the geopolitical tensions arising from the U.S.–China competition.

“All cooperation when it comes to security and defense is something which needs to be explored and further deepened with like-minded partners in the region,” the Finnish minister said.

“If we look at China, if we look at the developments in the Indo-Pacific, I think it’s very natural that not just NATO but also individual countries in Europe, such as Finland, start looking also in that direction.”

Finland became NATO’s newest member this year. The Nordic country has started construction of a wire fence at its Russian border, fearing retaliation from Moscow after joining the military alliance.

Border fence with Russia in Pelkola, Finland, on April 14, 2023. Janis Laizans/Reuters

The Finnish government decided last year to construct the barrier following its NATO application, primarily in the event that Russia moved to flood the border with migrants.

Finland aims to guard against a repeat of events on the EU’s eastern frontier in Poland in the winter of 2021, when the bloc accused neighboring Belarus—a staunch Russian ally—of engineering a crisis by flying in migrants from the Middle East, giving them visas, and pushing them across the border.

Last year, Finland detected 30 illegal crossings there, while Russian border guards stopped some 800 attempts to enter Finland, according to Finnish Border Guard Brig. Gen. Jari Tolppanen.

“The situation at the Finnish–Russian border has been stable and is stable at the moment,” Brig. Gen. Tolppanen said.

“But in this totally changed [security] situation, Finland must have more credible and more independent border control. And Finland needs to be less dependent on the Russian border control.”

Dorothy Li, Frank Fang, and Efthymis Oraiopoulos contributed to this report.