China–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Ukraine and China. The earliest contact in record between the nations date back to the first Russian Orthodox mission in China in 1715, which was led by the Ukrainian Archimandrite Hilarion (Lezhaysky). As part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine recognized the People's Republic of China in October 1949. After Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two countries built formal diplomatic relations in 1992, and declared a strategic partnership in 2011.
China has an embassy in Kyiv and a Consulate-General in Odesa. Ukraine has an embassy in Beijing and a Consulate-General in Shanghai. According to the Chinese embassy in Ukraine, over 6,000 Chinese citizens work or study in Ukraine. 50,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian citizens live in China, as estimated by the Ukrainian embassy in China, especially in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Harbin.
Historical relations
The historical contact between the Chinese and the Ukrainian can date back to the first Russian Orthodox mission arrived in Beijing, the capital of Qing dynasty of China in 1715. The mission was led by the Ukrainian Archimandrite Hilarion Lezhaysky. The archimandrite was a graduate of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and was a teacher at Chernihiv, before coming to China. Many of his successors in the mission were also from Ukraine, such as Gervasius Lentsovsky who arrived in China in 1742. The fathers also brought back knowledge to Ukraine. Thus, there were a number of original Chinese books found in Kharkiv College founded in 1722. The first-ever Chinese to visit Ukraine in record was the diplomatic mission led by Li Hongzhang who landed Odesa in 1896 and crossed the vast land of the Russian empire before finally arriving in the empire's capital Saint Petersburg. Before the First World War, there were sparse Chinese migrants to Odesa. To fill the manpower shortage caused by casualties during the First World War, it is estimated that six to seven thousand Chinese workers were recruited to Ukraine during the war.
On 24 November 1966, during the UN General Assembly 21st session 2159th meeting, as the Republic of China cited the dual representation of Byelorussia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union to support similar arrangement regarding China, the Ukrainian representative argued against such arrangement and supported expelling the representative of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and transfer of the seat of the People's Republic of China. On 25 October 1972, the Ukrainian representative voted to support the People's Republic of China to take the seat of China. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China first established relations with Ukraine in 1992.
Political relations
Since 1991, China–Ukraine relations have been complex. From 1992 to 2004, bilateral relations intensified, resulting in trade, economic, military-technical, scientific, educational, and cultural cooperation and two exchanged state visits. However, after Kyiv allowed a Taiwanese official to visit Ukraine for a meeting by International Crisis Group in 2005, relations deteriorated during the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010). With Viktor Yanukovych elected president in 2010, China revived the political contact with Ukraine, as two countries signed Joint Declaration on Establishment and Development of Strategic Partnership in 2011. However, after the Maidan Revolution, China has kept official contact with Ukraine low-key, considering the protests to have been Western-sponsored.
Nuclear security guarantee
In a unilateral governmental statement in 1994, China provided Ukraine with nuclear security guarantee, where China states its inclination to peaceful settlement of differences and disputes by way of fair consultations. In December 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping signed a bilateral treaty and published a joint statement, where China reaffirmed that it will provide Ukraine with nuclear security guarantees upon nuclear invasion or threats of invasion. However, the initial coverage by Xinhua, the Chinese government's official press agency, avoided the term "nuclear umbrella", but said that China is offering Ukraine "security guarantee," though People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, used the headline "China offers Ukraine nuclear umbrella protection", which has been censored since. According to Wu Dahui, a professor at the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, the promise is simply a manifestation of Beijing's global nonproliferation responsibilities.