{"id":244332,"date":"2022-11-18T19:16:07","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T03:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=244332"},"modified":"2023-01-24T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T00:27:10","slug":"under-diplomatic-pressure-china-sends-mixed-signals-about-its-support-to-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2022\/11\/under-diplomatic-pressure-china-sends-mixed-signals-about-its-support-to-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Under Diplomatic Pressure, China Sends Mixed Signals About Its Support to Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the closing of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, world leaders congratulated themselves on having achieved a rare moment of unity: <\/span>issuing a joint statement<\/span><\/a> that \u201cdeplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.\u201d Given <\/span>China\u2019s support for Russia<\/span><\/a> throughout the war, some observers interpreted Xi Jinping\u2019s acquiescence to this statement as evidence that China may finally be <\/span>distancing itself from Russia<\/span><\/a>. However, growing economic ties between both countries and the amplification of Russian narratives by China\u2019s <\/span>internal propaganda machine<\/span><\/a> suggest that Sino-Russian relations remain strong. Under greater diplomatic pressure, Xi may be attempting to mollify both sides.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diplomatic <\/span>pressure<\/span><\/a> may have <\/span>put some limits on Xi\u2019s partnership with Russia<\/span><\/a>. French President Emmanuel Macron left the summit \u201c<\/span>convinced China can play, on our side, a more important mediating role in the coming months<\/span><\/a>\u201d to prevent Russian aggression in Ukraine. Amplifying the <\/span>concerns<\/span><\/a> of many G20 leaders, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez <\/span>urged China<\/span><\/a> to use its influence to help end the war. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz persuaded Xi to publicly condemn nuclear threats during his <\/span>visit to Beijing last week<\/span><\/a>, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi <\/span>echoed<\/span><\/a> Xi\u2019s views this week. On the opening day of the summit, a missile strike killed two people inside Poland, raising fears that the war would dramatically escalate and prompting NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg <\/span>to criticize China<\/span><\/a> for its support of Russia. Henry Foy and Mercedes Ruehl at The Financial Times described how <\/span>China ultimately buckled in the face of a united G20<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like all of the pressure suddenly left the room,\u201d said an official from the Indian delegation, as Russia \u2014 and China \u2014 buckled to allow a qualified condemnation of Moscow\u2019s war against Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Two delegates said that China ultimately had been reluctant to be grouped alone alongside Russia, a fear that pushed Beijing to accept the statement. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, as Foster Klug at the Associated Press reported, <\/span>China may not have fundamentally shifted its stance on Russia\u2019s war<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Privately, however, some diplomats were wary about declaring that China has shifted its stance on Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chinese President Xi Jinping may have simply made a decision to not be seen as a spoiler or outlier during face-to-face meetings with other leaders in Bali. The statement also allows China to avoid going all-in with a Russia that is looking more and more isolated as it increases attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Beijing hasn\u2019t done is change \u2014 or even publicly question \u2014 its fundamental relations with Russia. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, there were plenty of signs that China had not abandoned Russia. After a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Bali, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that China is willing to \u201cpush forward their high-level exchanges and communication in various fields, [and] <\/span>deepen bilateral practical cooperation<\/span><\/a>.\u201d In the talks leading up to the G20\u2019s final joint statement, <\/span>China objected to calling Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine a \u201cwar,\u201d<\/span><\/a> arguing that the G20 was not the right forum in which to discuss security matters. The final statement acknowledged that \u201c<\/span>there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Moreover, as Manoj Kewalramani noted in Tracking the People\u2019s Daily, the CCP\u2019s flagship newspaper <\/span>reprinted the full description regarding Ukraine in the G20 statement, but crucially omitted the final sentence<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s missing is the final sentence: \u201cToday\u2019s era must not be of war.\u201d Now, that might not sound like a really big deal to others. But if you were in India, that sentence is a big deal, because that\u2019s the formulation that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put forward during his engagement with President Vladimir Putin in September on the sidelines of the [Shanghai Cooperation Organization]. And the fact that it was part of the G20\u2019s view on the situation was a big deal domestically in India and was seen [as] a measure of the success of Indian diplomacy during this difficult moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Having worked for over a decade in the news media, including Chinese state media, I understand that more often than not incompetence and oversight, rather than malice, are better explanations for reporting errors and omissions. This simply does not appear to be one of those cases. Unfortunately, this seems like a deliberate and rather petty decision to omit that sentence. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Like-minded nations https:\/\/t.co\/R6ACzRFBjP<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jakub Jak\u00f3bowski (@J_Jakobowski) November 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n