Putin friend Lukashenko in Beijing: China is moving further away from the West Cardinals and Vatican leaders will no longer be able to live cheaply in the future

Even before his arrival, Alexander Lukashenko did not shy away from ensnaring his host with rhetorical praise. “No problem in the world” can now be “solved without China,” the Belarusian ruler told the Xinhua news agency. He described China’s head of state Xi Jinping as an “old friend” who was a “very smart, wise, creative and modern person”.

On Wednesday morning, the two finally met in the Great Hall of the People. From a European perspective, the timing of Lukashenko’s visit looks catastrophic as the Chinese government only presented a 12-point plan for the war in Ukraine on Friday.

And just a few days later, the People’s Republic rolls out the red carpet for one of the Kremlin’s closest allies; especially an ally who made its territory available to the Russian forces as a staging area for the invasion.

The United States, in particular, is likely to repeat its warnings about arms shipments from China: there are suspicions that Beijing could use Belarus as a go-between to arm Russia more or less through gangs.

But Lukashenko is by no means an envoy of Putin, as has often been written in the international press. Relations between Minsk and Moscow are more complicated than commonly believed. Because with growing fears that Russia could absorb its smaller neighbors to the west, Lukashenko probably sees some kind of balancing force in the triangular relationship with China to reduce excessive dependence on Russia. In other words, his visit to Beijing is likely to be eagle-eyed in the Kremlin.

War will be the main theme

The war in Ukraine is likely to be discussed in detail behind the scenes. But China will be less interested in Lukashenko’s support for his “peace initiative”, after all it is mainly a vague PR campaign with no concrete follow-up measures. However, it is very likely that Xi Jinping will ask the Belarusian guest for his insights into the current course of the war.

Lukashenko, on the other hand, hopes that his state visit will mainly lead to economic cooperation and investment from China. The Middle Kingdom has gained enormous importance since the EU sanctions against Belarus. Combined trade grew by no less than 33 percent last year.

Lukashenko is loyal to all of the Chinese’s core political concerns: The Chinese say they appreciate support for “Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and human rights”.

Red carpet for autocrats

The extent to which the geopolitical landscape has changed is clear: Lukashenko’s visit on Wednesday joins an illustrious list of autocrats for whom Beijing has already rolled out the red carpet in this young year. Earlier guests were Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow.

All this not only shows how pragmatic and value-free China’s foreign policy is, but also sends an active message to the West: the People’s Republic is expanding its influence in those parts of the world that Europe and the US often neglect. .

But China’s long list of dictatorial friends reveals who Xi Jinping is unwilling to talk to these days: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly and very aggressively asked for an appointment with the Chinese head of state, but so far he has always been rejected . (aargauerzeitung.ch)