Posted on Jan 12, 2023
'Putin is crazy': China 'thinks Russia is going to fail in Ukraine'
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"It now appears that President Xi Jinping may be doing his best - through his officials - to distance himself from Putin and his war, as the Chinese leader now focuses on improving his diplomatic relations with the West."
'Putin is crazy': China 'thinks Russia is going to fail in Ukraine'
Posted from dailymail.co.uk
China
Russia
Vladimir Putin
Posted >1 y ago
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LTC Eugene Chu
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https://www.ft.com/content/e592033b-9e34-4e3d-ae53-17fa34c16009
“China has realised that it has antagonised too many countries at the same time, particularly among developed countries which still today are its main trade and economic partners,” says Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China expert at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Olaf Scholz meets Xi in Beijing. The German chancellor made clear during this visit that Berlin sees China as an ‘important economic and commercial partner’ © Yao Dawei/Xinhua via AP
“So it is trying very hard to reach out to the EU and key European nations — Germany, France, Italy and Spain — as well as America’s Asian allies, such as Japan and South Korea and US partners such as Vietnam.”
The EU is China’s biggest trade partner and Beijing runs a huge trade surplus with the bloc. Similarly, several of Europe’s leading companies rank among China’s biggest foreign investors.
China’s desire for a diplomatic reset with Europe appears to be yielding significant results. Visits to Beijing in November by Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, are set to be followed early this year by French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Macron is expected to follow Scholz in voicing opposition to “decoupling” from China, thereby ceding to Beijing some ground in its long-running strategy to sow division between European powers and the US.
Although he has also talked about reducing dependency on China, Scholz made clear during this visit that Berlin not only rejects “decoupling” but also sees China as an “important economic and commercial partner”.
“Macron, like Scholz, is opposed to decoupling. He is still promoting engagement,” says Cabestan. “China will try to utilise Macron’s strategic autonomy ambitions to drive a wedge between Europe and America.”
The hope that China can help restrain Moscow from using nuclear weapons is a potent motivator in European capitals, European officials and analysts say.
“China would always have opposed the use of nuclear weapons,” says Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California in San Diego. “But when Xi Jinping says these kinds of things to European leaders, he wants to emphasise a certain distance from Russia.”...
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https://www.ft.com/content/e592033b-9e34-4e3d-ae53-17fa34c16009
“China has realised that it has antagonised too many countries at the same time, particularly among developed countries which still today are its main trade and economic partners,” says Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China expert at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Olaf Scholz meets Xi in Beijing. The German chancellor made clear during this visit that Berlin sees China as an ‘important economic and commercial partner’ © Yao Dawei/Xinhua via AP
“So it is trying very hard to reach out to the EU and key European nations — Germany, France, Italy and Spain — as well as America’s Asian allies, such as Japan and South Korea and US partners such as Vietnam.”
The EU is China’s biggest trade partner and Beijing runs a huge trade surplus with the bloc. Similarly, several of Europe’s leading companies rank among China’s biggest foreign investors.
China’s desire for a diplomatic reset with Europe appears to be yielding significant results. Visits to Beijing in November by Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, are set to be followed early this year by French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Macron is expected to follow Scholz in voicing opposition to “decoupling” from China, thereby ceding to Beijing some ground in its long-running strategy to sow division between European powers and the US.
Although he has also talked about reducing dependency on China, Scholz made clear during this visit that Berlin not only rejects “decoupling” but also sees China as an “important economic and commercial partner”.
“Macron, like Scholz, is opposed to decoupling. He is still promoting engagement,” says Cabestan. “China will try to utilise Macron’s strategic autonomy ambitions to drive a wedge between Europe and America.”
The hope that China can help restrain Moscow from using nuclear weapons is a potent motivator in European capitals, European officials and analysts say.
“China would always have opposed the use of nuclear weapons,” says Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California in San Diego. “But when Xi Jinping says these kinds of things to European leaders, he wants to emphasise a certain distance from Russia.”...
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Even North Korea has officially cut ties with Russia, IIRC. NK allegedly still sells weapons to Russia though.
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