A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and while it seemed that the Russians would not take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with the ease that everyone expected, China made the mistake of supporting Putin. China’s mistake is that it supported Putin, when it should have normally – to win points on the world stage – distance itself from the irreparable mistake of the Russian President.
In this way, it would prove to the whole world its role as a responsible great power and not only that. At the same time, it should also take measures to prevent the possible adventures of Vladimir Putin. China, with this policy would be the only country in the world with this possibility and should have taken full advantage of this unique advantage.
If the Russian President lost China’s support in the first place, this would probably lead to the end of the war or at least prevent its escalation. With this policy, China would gain ground internationally as a pillar of maintaining world peace. This would help China avoid isolation and find an opportunity to improve its relations with the US and the West. China, however, appeared to support Putin without proceeding to provide the financial and military aid that the Russian president persistently requested.
The Russian troops today are also losing territories they occupied, while the Russian president himself warns that it may even reach the use of nuclear weapons. At the UN, China abstained from a resolution condemning Russia for the referendums and the annexation of 4 regions of Ukraine. However, it does not recognize the annexations, supports the territorial integrity of Kazakhstan against the Russian threat and declares categorically against the use of nuclear weapons.
Vladimir Putin seems to be increasingly weak next to China, which, however, will not abandon him completely as it finds itself at odds with the US and the West, mainly over the issue of Taiwan. China needs a weakened Russia and a weakened-desperately-Vladimir Putin to offer him an escape route and engage in talks with the West about a new global status quo that will include China as the main interlocutor of the US and the West. , with Russia becoming a satellite, both economically and militarily of China.
In such a case, any peace processes between the warring parties – Ukraine and Russia – will include the presence of Chinese troops under the umbrella of the peace force, on the border between Ukraine and Russia, but also in other parts of the world where Russia has military present, replacing Russian troops with Chinese ones. In the same way that Great Britain withdrew after the Second World War and was replaced by the USA, with Pax Americana.
In addition to the strategic rivalry with the US, the Chinese leadership has to manage a series of problems, such as the Pandemic, production and supply chain disruptions respectively, drought and reduced agricultural production exacerbated by the effects of the war in Ukraine. The Congress of the Communist Party begins next Sunday, at which the session will recognize the great achievements of the past five years and the valuable experience of the leadership of Xi Jinping, who is expected to be retained as President for an unprecedented third consecutive term.
But first-half GDP rose by just 2.5% and youth unemployment reached 19.9% in June. This is the moment when China, the USA and the West in general should agree on the stability and economic development of the planet.
