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Andrea Chen

China will keep its distance and avoid getting caught up in the fallout from Turkey’s decision to shoot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border, analysts said yesterday.
Beijing does not have immediate interest in playing the mediator role, despite its close ties with Moscow, because the disputes are far more complex than the violation of airspace.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei  said China was paying close attention to the incident and many circumstances “needed further clarification”.
“China supports the international community’s counterterrorism efforts, and we hope all parties will strengthen their communication and coordination,” Hong said.
Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov held talk on counterterrorism with Chinese ambassador to Moscow Li Hui on Tuesday after Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber. Ankara also summoned ambassadors from five the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members, including China.
Ankara said it took such action only after the aircraft violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings, a claim Moscow has denied.
READ MORE: How a Russian warplane's 17-second presence in Turkish airspace sent tensions soaring
Tensions further escalated when a Russian rescue helicopter flying to the jet’s two pilots’ was also shot by Syrian rebels and crashed. The two air raids caused three Russian airmen dead.
And that is about as much as Beijing is prepared to do, despite its close ties with Moscow. Peking University international affairs expert Jia Qingguo  said Beijing would not go beyond words to ease the tensions.
“China will urge both sides to maintain restraint and solve the disputes through negotiation, but it has no interest in becoming a mediator and getting entangled in others’ disputes,” Jia said. “The two countries are telling different stories … What they are fighting about is far more complicated than an airspace violation.”
Ankara has long accused Moscow of directing their fire during the fight against Islamic State at Syrian rebels, which Turkey and the United States both support. But Moscow says Ankara should be blamed for the rise of IS because the terrorist group was financed partly by its natural resources deals with Turkey.
Raffaello Pantucci, of international security studies at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, agreed that China would probably stay on the sidelines.
“They already have awkward relations with the Turks, which they wouldn’t want to complicate further,” he said.
The more immediate terror threats facing China come from Xinjiang . Ties between China and Turkey soured after Beijing accused Ankara of helping Uygurs flee Xinjiang to join terrorist groups abroad.
Zhang Jianrong , a Russian studies expert from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said China would simply share more counterterrorism intelligence with Russia and hold more joint exercises to combat the threat.
“The crisis in Syria is far away … and the Russian military does not really need Chinese forces or to replenish troops there anyway,” Zhang said
Zhang said Moscow might make use of the shooting to arrange anti-missile system on the ground in Syria, whose ruling government is in favor of Russia’s presence in the region.
READ MORE: Putin sends state-of-the-art missile system to Russian air base in Syria, 50km of Turkish border
Though an emergency Nato meeting was held in the wake of the crisis, other Nato members would not like to see tensions escalate further, Jia said.
Turkey’s stance on ISIS is not a hundred per cent consistent with the consensus of other NATO members. The Kurdish forces, who are also fighting the ISIS, are deemed as terrorist group by Ankara.
Other NATO members are also concerned they would be set against Russia by Ankara, who has its own agenda in the counter terrorism fight, Jia said.
Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov held talks on counterterrorism with Chinese ambassador to Russia Li Hui on Tuesday and Ankara also summoned ambassadors from the five UN Security Council’s permanent members.
Additional reporting by Kristine Kwok
 


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Focus

China to stay on the sidelines in Turkey-Russia tensions

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei. Photo: AP

Crisis over 17 seconds: How a Russian warplane's brief presence in Turkish airspace sent tensions soaring

The Su-24 bomber hit by Turkey's an air-to-air missile falling from the sky. Photo: EPA

The radar shows when the Russian aircraft crossed very briefly into Turkish airspace. Photo: EPA

The radar shows when the Russian aircraft crossed very briefly into Turkish airspace. The incursion led Turkish fighter jets to fire at the bomber. Photos: EPA, Reuters

The two pilots parachuted out of the plane before it plunged to earth. One of the pilots was killed while the other was rescued by the Syrian army. Photo: EPA

A deputy commander in a Syrian Turkmen brigade, holds handles believed to be parts of a parachute of the downed Russian pilots. Photo: Reuters

In this file photo from the G-20 summit on Nov. 16 in Antalya, Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greet the media before summit talks. Yesterday, Putin ordered the deployment of long-range air defense missiles to a Russian military base in Syria, 50km from the border of Turkey. Photo: AP

Putin sends state-of-the-art missile system to Russian air base in Syria, 50km from Turkish border

Russian President Vladimir Putin the UralVagonZavod factory in the Ural mountains, Russia on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Protesters hurled eggs and stones at the Turkish embassy in Moscow yesterday. Posters showed a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a caption "Wanted," "Erdogan, Turkey," are left after the protest. Photo: AP

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg calls for calm and contacts between Moscow and Ankara after NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border. Photo: EPA

A file picture of missile cruiser Moskva of the Russian Black Sea fleet as it passed through the Bosporus strait dated 07 September 2014. Photo: EPA

US urges Russia and Turkey to cool tensions over downed warplane

 U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande on Tuesday urged Russia and Turkey to avoid escalation after a Russian warplane was downed by Turkey. Photo: AFP

Alpaslan Celik (centre), a deputy commander in a Syrian Turkmen brigade of rebel fighters holds the handles of a parachute used by one of the pilots of a downed Russian warplane near the northern Syrian village of Yamadi on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

epaselect epa05039461 A still image made available on 24 November 2015 from video footage shown by the HaberTurk TV Channel shows a burning trail as a plane comes down after being shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border, over north Syria, 24 November 2015. A Russian fighter jet was shot down 24 November over the Turkish-Syrian border, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said, according to Interfax news agency. The Sukhoi Su-24 was reportedly downed by Turkish forces, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported, citing sources in the presidency. The report said that the jet violated Turkish airspace and ignored warnings. It crashed in the north-western Syrian town of Bayirbucak, Turkish security sources were quoted as saying. EPA/HABERTURK TV CHANNEL MANDATORY CREDIT: HABERTURK TV CHANNEL

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