Monitoring Desk
KYIV, UKRAINE: As President United States (US), Joe Biden touched down in Ukraine to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, a top diplomat from China was traveling in the opposite direction; to Russia.
Wang Yi – who was promoted as the country leader Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy adviser in this January – is due to reach in Moscow current week as part of his eight-day Europe tour, a trip that brings into focus China’s attempted diplomatic balancing act since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine almost a year ago, CNN reported.
The optics of the two trips that are taking place just days before the first anniversary of the Ukraine-Russia war on Friday, underscores the sharpening of geopolitical fault lines between the two superpowers of the world.
China-US relationship continues to plummet
While relations between China and the US continue to decline – most recently due to the fallout from a suspected Chinese spy balloon that entered the United States airspace, Russian and China are as close as ever since their leaders declared a “no-limits” friendship in 2022 – partly driven by their shared animosity toward the US.
And as the US and its allies vow their support for Ukraine and accelerated military aid, China’s deepening partnership with Russia has raised alarms in the Western capitals – despite China’s public charm offensive in Europe to present itself as a negotiator of peace. Russia and China are as close as ever, and that’s a problem for the United States.
At the Munich Security Conference Saturday, Wang addressed a room of European officials as “dear friends” and touted China’s commitment to peace, while apparently attempting to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe.
“We do not add fuel to the fire, and we’re against reaping benefits from this crisis,” said Wang in a thinly veiled dig at the US. China believes that the United States is intentionally prolonging the conflict because its arms manufacturers are earning fat profits from the weapon sales.
“Some forces might not want to see peace talks to materialize. They don’t care about the harm on Europe nor the life and death of Ukrainians. They might have strategic goals larger than Ukraine itself. This warfare must not continue,” said Wang further.
He urged the officials from Europe to think about “what framework should there be to bring lasting peace to Europe, what role should Europe play to manifest its strategic autonomy.”
But the proposal was met with suspicion from some Western leaders who are closely watching for any support China has for Russia – especially assistance that could help its northern neighbor on the battlefield.
“We need more proof that China isn’t working with Russia, and we aren’t seeing that now,” Ursula Von der Leyen, European Commission President told CNN on Saturday.
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Such suspicions are strengthened by claims by the United States officials that China is considering enhancing its partnership with Russia by supplying Russia’s military with “lethal support.” “We’ve been watching this very closely,” Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State told “Face the Nation” on CBS in Munich on Sunday.
Responding to the accusations Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry blasted the US for “shoving responsibility, shifting blame and spreading false information.” “It is the United States side, not the Chinese side, that supplies a steady stream of weapons to the battlefield. The US side is not qualified to lecture China, and we would never accept the United States dictating or even coercing pressure on Sino-Russian relations,” a ministry spokesperson said at a regular news conference.
The accusations by the US, if true, would mark a major escalation in China’s support for Russia – and usher in a dangerous and unpredictable new phase in the war itself, CNN reported.
Previously, China had carefully avoided actions that could trigger secondary sanctions, which would deal a devastating blow to an economy hampered by three years of costly zero-Covid policy.
