Reuters:
Sept 22 – Xi Jinping is unlikely to abandon his “old friend” Vladimir Putin, even as the Russian leader’s decision to send thousands more troops to Ukraine and his nuclear threats strain Beijing’s “no limits” partnership with Moscow, experts said.
China will instead dig in on its awkward stance of calling for dialogue and peaceful resolution while refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they said.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York that China would to stick to an “objective” and “fair” position.
Xi and Putin have grown increasingly close in recent years, bound by their mutual distrust of the West, and reaffirmed their partnership just days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But China has been careful not to provide any direct material support that could trigger Western sanctions against it.
Putin acknowledged those limits last week when the two met for the first time since the war began, in Uzbekistan, describing Xi as having questions and concerns about the Ukraine situation and praising him for his “balanced” position.
“I don’t see how different any new position will be … China doesn’t support the war, it doesn’t support conflict, that’s been very clear from the beginning,” said Henry Wang Huiyao, founder of the Beijing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization.
Russia says its actions in Ukraine are a “special operation” to degrade its neighbour’s military capabilities and root out people it calls dangerous nationalists.
