In a joint statement following talks, Xi Jinping and Putin stated that the war in Ukraine could only be resolved by removing its “root causes”.
Such formulation clearly echoes key Russian propaganda messages used by the Kremlin to justify the launch of the full-scale war, including the threat of NATO expansion, discrimination against Russian-speaking people and the suppression of the Russian language, culture and media in Ukraine.
So now the EU will treat China as an enemy. Right? RIGHT??
The doctrine of the EU so far, is to consider China a multi-faced player: a partner for cooperation, an economic competitor and a systemic rival (e.g. it’s possible to cooperate with China on climate, but not on human rights).
So far, China has also been a multi-faced player. Xi has patted Putin on the back and declared “unlimited partnership”, but no Chinese weapons have been seen in Ukraine. Chinese soldiers have been observed there, but they seem to be really few for a country of that size - either mercenaries or people obtaining first hand experience under mercenary cover. Too few to matter as soldiers.
China has warm trade relations with Russia and has helped Russia source technology and endure sanctions. However, they haven’t made a special and dedicated effort to insulate Russia from secondary sanctions, and several Chinese companies have applied sanctions on Russia as a result.
On other occasions, Chinese representatives have said nice words about Ukraine’s territorial integrity. But deeds haven’t followed.
In UN votes about Ukraine, China often abstains.
Officially, China doesn’t sell drones to Russia or Ukraine. In reality, both Ukrainian and Russian drones are full of Chinese parts. Ukrainian government is asking every bigger player to have a plan B that works without China, but few really have one. What Russian government asks of their drone makers, I don’t know.