As we know, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called Vladimir Putin “best friend”, and the Russian president reciprocated. Despite, China did not support Russia when the UN voted in favor of a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine. However, China did not oppose the invasion.
The BBC spoke about this with political scientists and economists.
China is in a difficult situation. On the one hand, Beijing is interested in a stable and predictable position in the world – it knows how to act in such conditions and increase its strength. In this sense, military action in Ukraine is not beneficial to China because it maintains trade relations with it.
On the other hand, says Bradley Jardin, China is sympathetic to Russia’s vision of a multipolar world and the concept of weakening the West. Also, its partnership with Russia allows opposing the United States and Europe. But even here, things are not so simple: the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a unity of Western countries, which are urgently imposing new sanctions against Moscow in a coordinated manner. Such unity is not in China’s favor.
Ukraine’s example showed China that European dependence on Russian energy didn’t prevent the European Union from acting as a single front and imposing tough sanctions on Russia when Moscow launched hostilities.
Comment: Leonid Kovachych, expert, sinologist
“China is in a difficult position because, on the one hand, China has some political and economic interests in cooperation with Russia. On the other hand, China has an interest in cooperation with Ukraine. Moreover, it is significant for Beijing that relations with the EU do not deteriorate “.
Source: BBC Ukraine