/ world today news/ Beijing is fully aware that NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is the inseparable counterpart of the US war against its “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
Imagine President Xi Jinping mustering undiluted Taoist patience to endure a phone call with that warmongering actor in a sweaty t-shirt in Kiev while trying to teach him a few facts of life — along with a promise to send a high-level Chinese delegation to Ukraine , to discuss “peace”.
There is much more than meets the discerning eye clouded by this twisted-to-death diplomatic “victory” – at least from NATOstan’s perspective.
The question is inevitable: what is the point of this phone call? Very simple: just business.
The leadership in Beijing is fully aware that NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is the integral counterpart of America’s direct war against the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Until recently and as of 2019, Beijing was Kyiv’s top trading partner (14.4% of imports, 15.3% of exports). China mainly exports machinery, equipment, automobiles and chemical products, imports foodstuffs, metals and also some machinery.
Very few in the West know that Ukraine joined the Belt and Road Initiative back in 2014, and a trade and investment center for the project has been operating in Kyiv since 2018.
Belt and Road projects include a 2017 push to build the fourth metro line in Kyiv, as well as the installation of 4G by Huawei. Everything is on hold since 2022.
Noble Agri, a subsidiary of COFCO (China National Cereals, Oils and Foods Corporation), has invested in a sunflower seed processing complex in Mariupol and the recently built grain port terminal in Nikolaev.
The next step will necessarily involve cooperation between the Donbas authorities and the Chinese when it comes to restoring their assets that may have been damaged during the war.
Beijing also tried to intervene heavily in the Ukrainian defense sector and even bought Motor Sich; which was blocked by Kyiv.
Look at that neon
So what we have in Ukraine, from a Chinese perspective, is a trade/investment cocktail of Belt and Road, railways, military supplies, 4G and construction jobs. And then, the key vector: neon.
About half of the neon used in semiconductor manufacturing was until recently supplied by two Ukrainian companies; Ingas in Mariupol and Cryoin in Odessa.
There has been no work since the beginning of the Special Military Operation (SMO). This directly affects Chinese semiconductor manufacturing. You can bet the Hegemon isn’t losing sleep over this very predicament.
Ukraine represents value to China as a crossroads of “One Belt, One Road”. The war disrupts not only business, but in the bigger picture and one of the corridors of trade and connectivity connecting Western China to Eastern Europe.
The BRI drives all key decisions in Beijing – as it is the core concept of Chinese foreign policy until mid-century.
And that explains Xi’s phone call, debunking all kinds of nonsense from NATO about China, finally paying attention to the warmongering actor.
Just as relevant as One Belt One Road is the overarching bilateral relationship that dictates Beijing’s geopolitics: the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and China.
So let’s move on to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defense ministers meeting earlier this week in Delhi.
The key meeting in India was between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Chinese counterpart Li Shanfu. Li was recently in Moscow and was personally received by Putin for a special interview. This time he invited Shoigu to visit Beijing and it was immediately accepted.
Needless to say, every single player in the SCO and beyond, including nations that are only observers or dialogue partners for now, as well as others aspiring to become full members like Saudi Arabia, have paid very close attention to the Shoigu camaraderie -Shanfu.
As for the deeply strategic Central Asian “looms” that are the six feet being treated for wishful thinking by the Hegemon who wants to use them in a divide and rule scheme pitting Russia against China.
Shoigu-Shanfu also sent a subtle message to SCO members India and Pakistan – stop bickering and in the case of Delhi, hedge your bets – and to full member (in 2023) Iran and near-future member Saudi Arabia: here’s where everything, it’s the mass that matters.
All of the above also shows the growing interrelationship between the Belt and Road Initiative and the SCO, both under the leadership of Russia and China.
BRICS is essentially an economic club – complete with its own bank, the NDB – and focused on trade. It’s mostly about soft power. The SCO is focused on security. It’s about hard power. Together, these are the two key organizations that will pave the multilateral way.
As for what will be left of Ukraine, it is already being bought by Western mega-players such as BlackRock, Cargill and Monsanto. Still, Beijing is certainly not counting on staying high.
Stranger things have happened than a future step Ukraine, positioned as a functioning trading and related partner of the Belt and Road.
Translation: SM
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