The visit of Chinese President “Xi Jinping” to Russia will be organized, which will most likely take place after the end of the sessions of the Chinese Parliament, which are traditionally held annually in early spring in February of each year.
It seems to me that the Chinese comrade “Xi” himself deeply admires Putin on a personal level. But it seems to me that the most worrying thing about Putin himself is that China, despite the strength of its relationship with him, is also seeking to set a high price for support. For example, Beijing wants to restrict Russia’s highly lucrative arms sales to India, a sworn enemy of China across the Himalayan range on the Sino-Indian border. Despite this, the Chinese company, Huawei, is building Russian fifth-generation networks, while Russia requires Chinese cooperation on everything from aircraft parts to currency swaps in the local currencies of the two parties.
Relations between Russia and China, which the two sides describe as a “borderless” partnership, have gained great importance after the launch of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. While Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, China refrained from condemning Moscow’s military crackdown and merely emphasized the need for peace. Russian energy exports to China have increased dramatically since the outbreak of the war, and Moscow has become the single largest supplier of oil to China. However, there are very serious limits to the pattern of “boundless” relations between China and Russia. For now, China assures Western countries that at least it does not sell weapons or aircraft parts to Russia. Beijing is desperate not to fall victim to the same sanctions imposed on the Russians after the Ukraine war. So it sets limits to the relationship with Moscow.
Beijing has so far been careful not to provide direct support that could make it vulnerable to Western sanctions over Russia’s war against Ukraine. At a summit held in September 2021 in Uzbekistan, Putin acknowledged the concerns of his Chinese counterpart “Xi Jinping”, about the situation in Ukraine.
The visit of Chinese President “Xi Jinping” to Russia is an affirmation of Beijing’s solidarity with Russia during the continuation of its military campaign in Ukraine. This visit will show the world how close Russian-Chinese relations are.
With China’s readiness, according to what Beijing officially confirmed, about its willingness to increase strategic cooperation with Russia against the background of the difficult situation in the whole world. According to Chinese state media analysis.
In a previous video call between Presidents “Xi Jinping” and Putin, it was confirmed that the road to peace talks on Ukraine will not be easy, and that China will continue to uphold its objective and fair stance on the issue, according to the official China Central Television broadcast in Beijing.
It is expected that Russian gas supplies to China will increase after that visit. This was confirmed by Russian President “Putin” that Russian-Chinese cooperation is increasing as a factor of stability in the international arena with Putin’s statements about the importance of continuing joint military cooperation with Beijing, to enhance regional security and work to develop it in the future.
The visit of Chinese President “Xi Jinping” to Russia will be a joint declaration of the “borderless” partnership, which was announced between the two parties during the February 2022 summit, at the time of Beijing’s hosting of the Winter Olympics, as both sought to challenge the influence of the United States of America and pressure for a multipolar world.
Here, Moscow and Beijing present themselves as a geopolitical counterweight to the United States of America and its other allies. Moscow and Beijing also conducted several joint military maneuvers and exercises in their nearby areas of influence, including naval maneuvers in the East China Sea, as a warning message to America and its allies about the Taiwan Strait.
Likewise, during President Xi Jinping’s visit, China will try to increase the benefit from Russian supplies of gas to the Chinese economy, given that Beijing is the main consumer of hydrocarbons, at a time when the Europeans are trying to get rid of their dependence on Russian energy.
Here, China holds the cards when it comes to Russian gas. Just before invading Ukraine, Putin signed an agreement with Xi to increase Russian natural gas exports to 48 billion cubic meters annually as a future deal, instead of capping a modest 4 billion cubic meters in 2020. Russia is also planning to build a new pipeline, known as (Power of Siberia 2), which may lead to the transfer of Russian gas exports from Europe more easily to China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow will also reflect an affirmation of Beijing’s refusal to publicly condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine, with China instead accusing the United States of provoking Russia by pressing for NATO’s expansion to the east into the regions. direct Chinese Russian influence.
But on the other hand, with no indications that the conflict in Ukraine is about to end at the present time, President Xi has taken steps to distance himself from his Russian counterpart, including China’s signing of a statement during the G-20 summit, in November 2022 in Bali. Indonesia, China, along with its other member states, reaffirmed their strong condemnation of the war in Ukraine.
The summit that took place between President Xi Jinping and his counterpart, US President “Joe Biden”, on the sidelines of the G20 meetings, also helped ease tensions between the two largest powers in the world, as the two leaders jointly warned the Kremlin in Russia, because of a Russian statement, About the imminent outbreak of a nuclear war against Ukraine.
The first American comment on the event of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia came through a State Department spokesperson, in a statement, to express Washington’s concern about China’s alliance with Russia, in light of Moscow’s continued brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine, according to the official American statements.
Here came the United States and Europe’s warning to China of the consequences of providing any military assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine or helping it evade internationally imposed sanctions.
Here came the joint declaration between Moscow and Beijing to continue strengthening their strategic and comprehensive partnership relations, emphasizing the rejection of attempts to build a unipolar world dominated by Washington, because that American hegemony has acquired an ugly form in recent times. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s response also came with an emphasis on China’s support for Russia in strengthening its position as a major power in the international arena.
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia, it will be emphasized that China is ready to continue to provide mutual support to Russia on issues related to their core interests, such as:
(Sovereignty and security, intensification of strategic coordination between the two countries, and strengthening communication and coordination in the main international and regional organizations in whose membership they participate, such as: “The United Nations, BRICS Group, Shanghai Cooperation Organization”)
Here, Russian President “Putin” opposes any attempts by any external forces to interfere in China’s internal affairs, such as the situation in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with his Chinese counterpart, “Xi”, asserting that Beijing has always made independent judgments regarding Russia, foremost of which is its war against Ukraine.
During the visit, Chinese President “Xi Jinping” is expected to call on all parties to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to find a peaceful solution, with the Chinese leadership willing to play a constructive role in this process. And while the Chinese government called earlier to adopt peace between Russia and Ukraine, it stressed at the same time its understanding of Russia’s security concerns, and its condemnation of the supply of weapons from the West to the capital, “Kyiv”.
At the end of February 2022, Beijing abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Kremlin’s actions regarding Ukraine. And this is despite Washington’s pressure on Beijing to adopt a position more in line with the Western position, but China refused to take any hostile stances or measures towards Russia, which it always describes as a “strategic partner”.
Hence, we conclude the extent of the great Chinese political solidarity with Moscow. With the increase in the overall Chinese trade movement with the Russian side, and China essentially abandoning Ukraine’s support despite their previous relations in favor of Moscow, Beijing also expanded its financial transactions with the Russians without using the currency of the dollar or the euro, and doubled future cooperation for the development of military technology with Russia while conducting the Joint Russian-Chinese military exercises in the Pacific region. In my personal belief, the American concern itself is not from a joint official Russian-Chinese alliance, but rather the fear of the compatibility of the policies of the two countries, which follow two different authoritarian regimes according to the classification of America and the West, and oppose the world order that the United States of America controls internationally in the recent time. The two parties together may impede the ability of the United States of America to implement some of its international goals, and thus influence the American influence internationally.
