20. feb. 2023 05:55 – Updated 20 Feb. 2023 05:55
Swedish expert believes Biden’s reaction to the spy balloon pushes Xi closer to Putin.
Recently, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that China’s leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the spring.
“Through joint efforts in the coming year, Russia and China will be able to strengthen and promote bilateral intergovernmental ties,” the ministry announced.
Given the tension between China and the US after the spy balloon incident, Swedish experts believe China should cancel the visit.
– Sensitive
After the US shot down what it claims is a Chinese spy balloon two weeks ago, relations between the two superpowers have been chilly.
China has always claimed it is a stray weather balloon.
Jan Hallenberg, head of research at the Institute for Foreign Policy in Sweden, is skeptical that Xi will now visit Putin:
– It is potentially very sensitive with such a visit, given the poor relationship between the US and China. If Xi Jinping wants to reduce tensions with the US, he should have refrained from – or at least postponed – such a visit, he tells Swedish Expressen.
Patrik Oksanen, security policy expert at the Frivärld think tank and member of the Royal Academy of Military Sciences, wonders whether China is actually interested in cooling down the conflict with the US and the West, or not. Xi Jinping visiting Russia will not have a chilling effect, he adds.
Expert: Biden pushes Xi closer to Putin
Oksanen clarifies that the Chinese authorities, for their part, have still not confirmed the visit.
– But regardless of whether the visit happens or not, China is important to Russia, and China also does not want to see Russia fall apart. They are united in their interest to push the democracies back and restore their empires, he tells Expressen.
Kristian Gerner, author and professor of history at Lund University, specializing in Eastern and Central Europe, believes that Putin is now hoping for Chinese assistance in one form or another, in order to continue the war in Ukraine.
He also believes that Biden’s reaction to the spy balloon may have pushed China closer to Russia.
