Five days after China reiterated its opposition to American claims in the Pacific, China took another step in the geopolitical ballet of Cold War 2.0 with a call from President Xi Jinping to his closest ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“China will continue to support Russia on issues affecting its core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security,” he told Putin. In English: Beijing remains on Moscow’s side in the Ukraine war, although this has not been fully reported by the two countries’ state media.
Not that it was necessary. Since the conflict began, the Chinese have sought some detachment, fearing the impact Western sanctions would have on their business China is a key trading partner of Russia and companies can be fined for it, although trade flow only increased after the war.
The Moscow Foreign Ministry recalled this in its commentary on the energy crisis this Wednesday. “The energy supply is constantly increasing. China knows what it wants and doesn’t shoot itself in the foot, west of Moscow it shoots itself in the head,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Xi refused to condemn the February 24 invasion in both speeches and votes at the United Nations. He was threatened by Biden for not helping Putin. Gradually he became a vocal critic of sanctions, while painlessly defending a peaceful solution to the crisis who doesn’t?
He said that again to Putin on Wednesday, in the only passage highlighted by most Western media. For Xi, Moscow and Kyiv must find a “responsible way” to end hostilities, according to state CCTV. How the Russians view ending the capture of Lugansk with brute force is another matter.
According to the Kremlin, ways to expand economic cooperation “taking into account the situation made more difficult by sanctions” were discussed. The US State Department told reporters that China is “on the wrong side of history” and expressed concern.
The Chinese, aware of Europe’s growing warweariness, sided with their ally. Twenty days before the conflict began, Xi and Putin signed a historic friendship agreement, deepening a multifaceted relationship which, if not a World War III military alliance as many fear, does have defense aspects.
More importantly, Ukraine serves as a practical experiment for Xi’s intentions in its strategic periphery, the pending takeover of Taiwan. The island, which Beijing considers its own, lives in fear of invasion by the communist dictatorship, and Biden has reiterated his pledge to provide military support to Taipei if that happens.
This possibility has always been the main obstacle to Chinese military action, which many believe to be inevitable in the medium term. Beijing is testing Taiwan’s air defenses more intensively with incursions and has been conducting drills as an explicit warning to the US, particularly after the Democrat visited Japan and South Korea with warmongering speeches, including maneuvers with the Russians.
On the other hand, by examining the Western reaction to the attack on Kyiv, Xi was able to recalculate whether he should venture into Taiwan even though the political and economic realities in Europe and Asia are very different.
In fact, the talk between Xi and Putin comes five days after the first meeting of Chinese and US defense chiefs on the sidelines of an International Institute for Strategic Studies conference in Singapore. In it, Wei Fenghe and Lloyd Austin reiterated their differences, particularly over Taiwan. The meeting was reportedly tense.
Ever since Cold War 2.0 was launched by the US in 2017 in response to Xi’s greater assertiveness since taking power in 2012, the Chinese and Americans have been at odds on every possible issue.
But the conflict first heated up with the old protagonist of the dispute’s first edition, Moscow, forcing the US to deviate from its top priority in Asia but not by much, such as the formation of an antiBeijing league and military agreements occupy in the region.
For their part, the Russians remained calm when commenting on the state of relations with the Americans on Wednesday. “Communication is essential and we will have to communicate in the future as well,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.