China is selling a peace plan while closing its alliance with Russia

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin extended a warm welcome to the head of Chinese diplomacy in the Kremlin. wang yiaware that it cannot afford to lose the favor of an Asian power, sooner balance what Beijing has been doing since the invasion of Ukraine so as not to upset its Russian ally or the European Union (its main trading partner) too much.

As always, the maxim of the communist government was to give one of lime and the other of sand. Wang, the president’s chief foreign policy adviser Xi Jinping, arrived in Moscow with a plan to end the war, confirming that the relations between the two countries are solid, despite the changing situation in the world. The statement clearly shows that Beijing and Moscow continue to strengthen their alliance, despite the utopian hopes of the West that Xi will distance himself from Putin.

Wang emphasized that the bilateral relationship with Russia is not directed against third countries nor does it allow pressure from other powers. No word on accusations made by the US that it may be considering providing “lethal support” to Russia. “Our we support the multipolar world and the democratization of international relations“, Wang said during a meeting with Putin that was broadcast on Russian television.

Not forgetting the Chinese diplomatic maxim of non-interference in the affairs of third countries and non-alignment with any side, Beijing offers a peace plan to end the war, with ambiguous premises and without an offer to mediate. The draft peace initiative would include the defense of territorial integrity — without further specifications —, a call for an end to hostilities and the protection of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, and opposition to the use of chemical weapons. The first reactions of some Western diplomats to Beijing’s proposal were negative, because they are not considering the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, which they consider an essential condition for starting the peace process.

According to the Chinese government, Russia continues ready to enter into “dialogue and negotiations” end the war. The Kremlin was equally sparing, only welcoming “China’s willingness to play a positive role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” in the words Maria Zakharovaforeign spokesperson.

China is the big winner of the war, according to what the professor of international relations told Efe Frederic Mertens de Wilmar. In his opinion, China aspires to become a major political power and “uses Russia” to change the parameters of world geopolitics, from “soft power” to “hard power”.