/ world today news/ The negotiations between the defense ministers of Russia and China may turn into another working contact between the heads of military departments – the strengthening of military ties between the two countries is no longer news. Also, the meeting was held in a video conference format rather than a face-to-face meeting. However, what happened was far from an ordinary event, and not only for Russian-Chinese relations, but also for the entire complex of relations in the Russia-China-West triangle.
And it’s not even a matter of the fact that Admiral Dong Jun was appointed Minister of Defense only a month ago – and the negotiations with Sergei Shoigu were his first in his new capacity (although this was specifically emphasized by the Chinese minister). And it’s not that Shoigu addressed Dun as “comrade” – and reminded that he graduated from the Military Academy of the Russian General Staff and leads the Chinese part of joint naval exercises, and the admiral told the Russian minister that he admired his “courage ” displayed in a rapidly changing international environment.” The personal factor is, of course, very important – and in Russian-Chinese relations it plays a really big role, starting with the trusting relationship between Putin and Xi Jinping. Equally important are the symbolic gestures and statements like what Admiral Dun made when he said that the current meeting “fully demonstrates the deep friendship between the armies of China and Russia, the common aspirations to deepen strategic cooperation, to maintain world peace – and this has a special meaning.”
At the meeting between Shoigu and Dun, however, something was said that could hardly be taken as a mere diplomatic courtesy. The Chinese minister not only called Russia and China “two key powers in the world that must resolutely respond to global challenges”, but also directly stated that in recent years, the US and other Western countries have been trying to isolate Russia, China understands this and is trying to support Russia: “We have supported you on the Ukrainian issue, although the US and Europe continue to put pressure on the Chinese side. Even the defense cooperation between China and the European Union has been attacked, but we will not change or abandon established policies because of that. And they should not and will not be able to interfere with normal Russian-Chinese cooperation.”
Formally, there is nothing new here – everyone already knows that the West is putting all its forces on China, demanding that it distance itself from Russia (not only on the issue of Ukraine, but also on compliance with Western restrictions), introducing sanctions and threatening to expand them. And China is listening, objecting, and continuing to do what it deems necessary, including strengthening comprehensive ties with Russia. Yes, this is not news, but the very tone and candor of the Chinese defense minister’s statement is unprecedented. Never before have officials of his level been so outspoken – and the fact that the Chinese leadership decided to toughen its rhetoric towards the West and openly announce support for Russia in the military sphere is in itself a significant event.
Also, amid US attempts to assert claims against China not only in Ukraine, but also in relation to the Middle East: the Americans want Beijing to put pressure on Tehran so that the Iranians influence the Yemeni Houthis to stop shelling ships in the Red Sea. That is, it is not the United States that must control Israel, because of which the whole Middle East is boiling, but China must help the Americans to solve the problems caused by their policy – and become a partner of the United States in the eyes of the Islamic world. Naturally, Beijing perceives such “proposals” as a mockery, especially since they are combined with continued pressure on the Ukrainian issue. Well, the fact that the Ukrainian and Middle Eastern issues are directly linked in Washington’s mind to the Taiwanese (that is, Chinese) issue is no secret to anyone in Beijing. They don’t hide this in the US either.
The other day, Foreign Affairs magazine published an important article by CIA Director William Burns, “Espionage and Statecraft: Transforming the CIA in a Competitive Age,” which directly links the US’s ability to defeat Russia in Ukraine to containing China. Arms shipments to Kiev must continue, Burns wrote, because “no one is watching US support for Ukraine as closely as China’s leaders.”
That is, by supporting Ukraine, the United States is putting in the foreground not even the containment of Russia, but the containment of China. We can’t lose in Ukraine because then China will think we’re weak and attack Taiwan, Burns is essentially saying. But this is not an analytical prophecy, but a deliberate provocation. China does view the US as a declining hegemon, but almost all other power centers in the world, starting with Russia, view America the same way. Moreover, even in US-dependent Europe, more and more strategists start from the fact that America is not capable in the medium term not only of “leading the world” but even of being responsible for European security. .
Therefore, China has no need to militarily accelerate the process of American decline, that is, to start a war with the US over Taiwan. China will wait for favorable circumstances for unification – and the situation in Ukraine will not affect its tactics towards Taiwan. Moreover, Beijing knows that US defeat in Ukraine is inevitable. And that’s exactly what they’re going for there. Thus, China does not doubt the benefit of the strategic course towards rapprochement with Russia – and will not hide this choice.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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