At the beginning of the year, Chinese President Xi Jinping (69) described his friendship with Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin (70) as follows: “A friendship without borders.” But the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine complicated the relationship. Putin hopes for the support of his counterpart, but Xi seems to be slowly distancing himself.
The reason: Beijing leadership faces a dilemma. The longer the war lasts, the quieter China’s support for Moscow becomes. Critical voices are getting louder. “Russia’s conduct in starting and waging the war proves that its military adventure is ruthless and its conventional forces weak,” international relations professor Shi Yinhong, 71, of Beijing People’s University, told the Deutsche Presse-Agency.
Now there are signs that China is turning its back on Russia. At a press conference at the Communist Party Congress on Thursday, leading foreign politicians did not say a word about the essentially “boundless friendship” with Russia. It is also customary for a Russian journalist to ask the second or third question about cooperation with Moscow. Not this time.
Is China Breaking With Russia Now?
During a meeting with head of state and party leader Xi Jinping in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged “concerns and questions” on the Chinese side – knowing he demanded a lot from Beijing. With the setbacks of the Russian armed forces on the battlefield, China’s position “rapidly developed to a new level,” said Professor Shi Yinhong. The annexation of the occupied territories in Ukraine after the mock referendum apparently caused support to decline further.
Xi may have misjudged his support for Putin. “He must have thought the war would soon be over,” says expert Richard McGregor of the Australian Lowy Institute. “Now it needs to recalibrate. It’s too early to say if the Chinese think they’ve miscalculated. But I think they’re definitely twisting and squirming.”
According to McGregor, Beijing is currently “extremely concerned”. “A consistently weakened Russia is not good for China,” the Lowy expert told the German news agency. “China doesn’t mind if Russia is the junior partner in their coalition. But they don’t want it to be too weak either.” (SDA/chs/jwg)