LThe Chinese government seems increasingly concerned about the turn of events in Ukraine. The Russian invasion is far from being the desired success. The economic consequences of the war are being felt everywhere, including in China. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September 2022, Xi Jinping publicly expressed his concern to Vladimir Putin. The partnership ” without limits “ between the two powers is not clashing with its limits?
Clearly, there are limits to the Sino-Russian partnership. But these are very modest compared to the vast common interests that unite Beijing and Moscow. Here is the inventory we can make of it: China has not approved Russia’s special operation. He remained neutral at the UN and elsewhere. It did not recognize Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, nor will it recognize Donbass and other Ukrainian territories where Putin has just staged a referendum farce.
In Central Asia, Xi Jinping has also strengthened his partnership with Kazakhstan, whose new president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is openly concerned about the possible repercussions of the invasion of Ukraine on his country, an immense territory including the North remains. largely inhabited by Russian populations. And the Chinese number one is advancing his pawns in this part of the former Soviet Union, having managed to convince Putin to lift his veto on the construction of a new railway line that should connect China to Iran, through Kyrgyzstan and the ‘Uzbekistan, bypassing the Russia corridor to Europe. Sino-Central Asian trade has also long been larger than Russian-Central Asian trade, aided by exports of Turkmen natural gas and Kazakh oil, as well as Chinese sales of equipment and consumer goods.
Stronger partnership than ever
Finally, Beijing has not completely cut ties with Kiev. Before the war, the two capitals had developed profitable political and commercial relations. Today the Chinese government maintains a fairly dense communication channel with President Zelensky, who is particularly concerned about Taiwan’s diplomatic activism in Eastern Europe.
The war in Ukraine is not in the interest of China, which hopes, if not for a quick conclusion, at least for a ceasefire in a fairly short time. Xi Jinping said this to Putin knowing full well that he can hardly influence the latter’s objectives or strategy.
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