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Russian officials have been increasingly frustrated by calls for more support during discussions with Beijing in recent weeks, urging China to fulfill its confirmation of an unrestricted partnership weeks before the war in Ukraine. But China’s leadership wants to expand aid to Russia without opposing Western sanctions, and has set limits on what it will do, according to Chinese and US officials.
Moscow has at least twice pressured Beijing to offer new forms of economic support – an exchange that a Chinese official described as “tense”. Officials familiar with the talks spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
They declined to share details of Russia’s demands, but one official said they included maintaining “trade commitments” before the February 24 invasion of Ukraine and financial and technological support now sanctioned by the United States and other countries.
“China has made clear its position on the situation in Ukraine and the illegal sanctions against Russia,” said a man in Beijing who was directly aware of the discussions. “We understand [Moscow’s] difficulty. But we cannot ignore our own situation in this dialogue. China will always act in the best interests of the Chinese people.
China is in trouble as it seeks to help its most important strategic partner, which has started a war that Beijing did not expect to enter in its fourth month, Chinese and US officials said. They said President Xi Jinping had instructed his closest advisers to come up with ways to help Russia financially, but without violating sanctions.
“It was difficult,” said a senior US official. “And that’s not enough from a Russian point of view.”
The US official said China had tried to find “other options” diplomatically and through joint military exercises to support Russia. Last week, Russia and China flew strategic bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea while President Biden was in Tokyo, completing his first trip to Asia. It was their first joint military exercise since the invasion of Ukraine and a strong signal of a growing strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing.
Russia and China are conducting the first joint military exercises since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
“What China is trying to do is be with Russia, signal neutrality in public and not be compromised financially,” he said. “Many of these goals are contradictory. It’s difficult to do them all at once. “
The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
China has called for an end to the war, but has refused to join a global consortium of countries in imposing sanctions on Moscow, instead blaming the conflict on the United States and NATO’s enlargement to Europe.
“China and Russia have long maintained normal economic, trade and energy cooperation. The problem is not who will help Russia circumvent sanctions, but that normal economic and trade exchanges between Russia and China have been unnecessarily damaged, “said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington.
Liu added that the sanctions had led to a “loss-loss” situation for all countries and worsened the “already difficult world economy”.
Beijing’s public support for Russia is not waning. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi reaffirmed his commitment to Moscow on Wednesday during a virtual meeting attended by Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Wang said China was ready to work with Russia to promote “true democracy”, hinting at China’s foreign policy goal to oppose what it described as US hegemony in global politics.
Russia has not asked for “weapons and ammunition” to support its war, Chinese officials said, but declined to comment on whether Russia had asked for other items that could be used in military operations, including technology and supplies.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States has seen no “systematic effort” by China to help Russia avoid sanctions, nor has it seen significant military support from China for Russia.
Biden warns China not to help Russia for Ukraine
Speaking at a Foreign Affairs Council event marking the centenary of Foreign Affairs magazine, Blinken noted a “remarkable exodus of companies from Russia” as a result of the invasion – 7,800 companies, Blinken said, “do not want their reputations to be jeopardized. doing business in Russia. “
The sanctions themselves did not lead to the eviction, Blinken said. “Indeed, the companies decided for themselves that they would not do business as usual in a country that carries out this kind of aggression. This is something that I think China should also take into account when thinking about its relations with Russia.
China has opposed helping Russia evade sanctions, fearing the United States and its allies could cut China off from critical technologies, including semiconductors and aerospace equipment, and focus on its financial system, a Beijing spokesman said. Supplies of high-end Chinese technology to Russia – including smartphones, laptops and telecommunications equipment – have declined since the start of the war.
However, the Chinese claim that US and Western sanctions are illegal and that China will continue to do business with Russia. “The Chinese side is ready to fulfill its commitments to the Russian side and is doing so when the right conditions are met,” said the man in Beijing, who was familiar with the discussions.
Asked about US warnings that China would face consequences if it helped Russia, the man said: “The real reason is to sow discord between China and Russia … this will not happen. They will not be able to undermine Sino-Russian relations. “
However, the Chinese official noted that the war in Ukraine has dragged on much longer than expected, and Beijing has made it clear to Moscow that ending the conflict will allow China more leeway to oppose sanctions and strengthen business ties. Russia after that. from the eviction of foreign companies.
Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asian program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said: “I think the hope of the United States and Europe is that China will be forced to choose [between siding with Russia or with the West] and that he will make the right choice. But China has competing interests, and it will be virtually impossible to force them to put their long-standing support for territorial integrity and sovereignty over their relations with Russia.
Yun Sung, co-director of the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center, said: “The whole goal of standing with Russia is that they want Russia to work with them strategically against the United States.” support for Russia, Beijing risks undermining relations with Moscow.
A second Chinese official said discussions between high-ranking officials focused on Russia’s swift efforts in China to strengthen closer ties while minimizing the risk to Beijing. And open source documents show that Russia-related projects in China are progressing.
Domestic Chinese tender documents show that funding for the new construction of the strategically important Russia-China East route has been ongoing since the start of the war, with the purchase of new materials and machinery for the southern part of the project. By 2025, it is expected to provide 18.9 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to China’s economically busy Yangtze Delta region.
The Chinese Atomic Energy Institute also purchased new services and equipment from the Russian nuclear engineering company OKBM Afrikantov in April for the Chinese-built China The nuclear project for an experimental fast reactor (CEFR) near Beijing, the documents show. During the same period, he purchased new supplies and services from Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom for the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, a landmark Sino-Russian project under construction in the Chinese province of Jiangsu.
Municipal and provincial governments have also been directed by Beijing to launch projects to expand trade and financial ties with Russia, according to Beijing officials and domestic tender documents submitted to China.
“Based on the comparative advantages of location and resources, we will analyze the favorable factors and obstacles to regional cooperation between Dalian and the Russian Far East … to promote high-quality economic development,” a May 19 document outlining funding said. to study investment opportunities in Russia for the northeastern Chinese manufacturing and port center Dalian, which is located near the Russian border.
Chinese officials also said the top leadership had called for new investment and trade with Belarus, which is aimed at financial and defense sanctions related to its supporting role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tender documents and contracts issued in April and May show that Chinese companies continue to deliver to the China-Belarus Industrial Park, a logistics center outside Minsk, Belarus, which was established as part of a strategic agreement between the two countries. More than half of the companies in the park are funded by China, according to data published in Chinese state media in May.
Additional bidding documents released on May 20 outline plans by state-owned subsidiary China Technology Electronics Group (CETC) to launch a $ 30m project for a joint research laboratory between China and Belarus to study and test electromagnetic pulses. (EMP) equipment – technology with military applications. The project includes a research base of 11,000 square feet …
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