Russian diplomacy had a very busy month as the state welcomed two major political visits from China and the United States within a short period. The U.S., Russia and China have many political disputes to settle when their officials pay political visits.
Still, the Ukraine crisis has been trumping all other items since last year. Russia faced almost instant backlash from the West when it started the all-scale invasion in February 2022. The U.S. was the flagbearer of implications and sanctions toward Russia, and the ongoing war in Ukraine has also become another point of criticism against China. This process has placed China in a tight spot in terms of foreign policy as one edge of the sword was touching its ally and the other edge on its promotion of peaceful governance in the international system.
The roots of this conundrum lie in the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, as the expectations were about China’s official recognition of this step pretty soon. However, China refrained from providing the comfort that Russia expected and abstained from criticizing the incident in the international arena. This neutrality on such an important sovereignty crisis was fully utilized by the U.S. to blame China to be opting out of the "Shanghai Spirit" when it comes to its allies and itself. There were obvious references in the U.S. discourse toward the malicious Chinese intention toward Taiwan and the South China Sea, as they were claimed to be the sole reason for this abstinence.
One of the most prominent facts on Chinese abstinence is the Chinese voting behavior in the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, where it abstains from the votes that condemn or criticize Russia over its Ukrainian invasion.
The Chinese position on the Ukrainian Crisis was summarized by the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, as the vice foreign minister defined the invasion as a result and not the cause of NATO expansion. He also said any similar approaches in the Asia-Pacific region would ignite similar processes, and the world should also consider the Ukrainian Crisis as a warning. It is quite clear that the U.S. and Chinese perspectives toward the Ukrainian Crisis are quite different and almost completely contradictory except for the respect for sovereignty. This is where Chinese foreign policy is criticized, as it emphasized state sovereignty long before Xi Jinping. It was one of the pivotal aspects of former President Hu Jintao’s Great China model.
At the last Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping explained substantially how China promoted peaceful transition, state sovereignty, trade and financial security on regional and international levels. As the rising global power of the last two decades, China has always been careful about its international discourse and encouraged prosperity over poverty, and peace over conflict.
However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, almost all Chinese trading partners, such as the U.S. and the European Union, have been trying to corner the top Chinese officials for commitment to their stance against Russia. Almost at each summit since the Ukrainian invasion started, the top EU officials, such as Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, asked Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials, such as Premier Li Keqiang, to avoid supporting Russia in this War in any manner.
At this point, it is observable that the Chinese support for Russia in the Ukrainian War has hurt the Shanghai image that was delicately built throughout the decades.
In one of the recent exchanges between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping last year, the Chinese president almost covertly criticized Russia implying that the Ukraine war has derailed these two major partners from leading the change in the international system. Some studies also claim that Chinese opinion is not robust in supporting Russia in this war, which is another point that President Xi Jinping has to consider with such a large population.
The Russian president officially acknowledged the Chinese concerns and questions regarding the Ukrainian War, with an urge to explain how important it was for them to have China on their side. The first meeting of these parties after the ignition of the war was historic in that they showed the fabric of a true alliance, which put both parties in tight spots from time to time.
Last month, the director of the General Office under the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of China, Wang Yi, visited Russia and had a prolonged exchange with Putin. There was a steep significant change of tone on the Chinese side as Wang Yi said that the bilateral affairs of China and Russia are not directed by any other third party as no party could pressure them into any action in a month when the U.S. was pointing the finger at China when the secretary of state shared China would provide arms to Russia for support. These incidents in February 2023 were quite important to see and observe how China is being punished for its alliance with Russia.
Although the Western countries have allied themselves with warmongers, tyrants and authoritarian leaders worldwide, they are now easily blaming China for siding with Russia over war. This fact aside, China is currently in a fragile diplomatic place where every step and sentence requires utmost delicacy.
Overall, the Chinese-Russian alliance is making the most of these difficult times as they sharpen their diligence for each other.
