23 days after what Russia started the war in UkraineThe president of United States, Joe Bidenand its Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinpinghave maintained a video conference to address the crisis. In the expected conversation, which has lasted just under two hoursthe American president has “described” to his Chinese counterpart the “implications and consequences if China gives material support to Russia” in his “brutal attacks against cities and civilians in Ukraine” as explained in the brief statement from the White House on the call.
It is a warning that the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, had already advanced the day before, but the US Administration has not publicly detailed what exactly would unleash sanctions on Beijing or what those punishments would consist of. Washington believes that Russia has asked military aid to China, but both the Kremlin and Beijing have denied that such a request took place. The US also fears that China may lend financial assistance to Moscow to circumvent international sanctions or ease their economic impact.
The official summary of the United States on the call has arrived more than three and a half hours after the conclusion of that conversation, of which China has given a version much earlier and also much more extensive, in which it has addressed multiple aspects of the relationship. that Washington has only tiptoed around in its description of the talk. Regarding the conflict, Xi has precisely placed one of its focuses on the denunciation of “wide-reaching and indiscriminate sanctions”. “If they escalate further, they can cause serious crisis in the global economy and in trade, finance, energy, food and industrial and supply chains”, warned the Chinese president, who has warned that they would cause “irrevocable losses“.
Tension and mistrust
The conversation, the first between the two leaders since they also held a virtual meeting for almost four hours on November 15, has been described as “sincere and in-depth” by China, which has assured that it was requested by Biden, and as “free” by USA. It arrives, in any case, when the conflict in Ukraine has added hostility to the already strained relationship between the two powers and as the distrust from Washington to Beijingwhat has not yet condemned the Russian invasion from Ukraine and is the main ally of the Kremlin. Xi and Vladimir Putin declared a friendship “without limits” in a joint statement they issued after a meeting on February 4.
According to Administration sources told the US press after the call, Biden has also addressed something in his dialogue with Xi that is not mentioned in the statement: concern that China is echoing the disinformation that Russia is spreading about alleged US-backed biological weapons programs in Ukraine, an issue that Washington believes Moscow could use as an excuse to use such weapons in a “false flag” operation.
Echoes of Russia
If the White House was looking for any sign that Xi could use his influence with Putin to end the aggression in Ukraine, or if he has requested it directly, it has not transpired so far, at least publicly. Although the Chinese leader has told Biden that “China does not want to see the situation in Ukraine exacerbate.“and has assured that his country “defends peace and opposes war”, his statement is peppered with messages in which Beijing once again echoes the Russian justifications for the intervention, framing it as a matter of defending its security before the expansion of NATO.
Although both Biden and Xi have made a call to the diplomatic exit After the crisis, the differences between the two powers are evident. And the Chinese president, for example, has called for “the US and NATO to also have a dialogue with Russia to deal withhe turning point of the crisis of Ukraine and ease the security concerns from both Russia and Ukraine.
“A lasting solution would be for the major countries to they will respect each otherreject the mentality of the cold Warwill avoid the bloc confrontation and build step by step security architecture balanced, effective and sustainable for the region and the world,” Xi said.
Neutral arbitrator and global leader
The message launched by the Chinese leader ratifies his objective of presenting his country not only as a neutral referee before this war but, especially, to carry out the difficult balance between common cause what are you doing with Russia and the establishment of its image and role of responsible world leader.
Regarding the bilateral relationship with the US, Xi has recognized that “there has been and will continue to be differences between China and the US” but he assured that “what matters is that we maintain these differences under control. A stable growing relationship interests both parties”, said the president. The Chinese leader has also stressed that “the United States does not support the ‘independence of Taiwan‘ and has no intention of seeking a conflict with China”. The White House, meanwhile, explained that Biden “has reiterated that US policy towards Taiwan has not changed and has emphasized that the US continues to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo“.
Shadows and ambiguities
Related news
Washington is unsettled by China’s position on the conflict, which they consider ambiguous and contradictory according to diplomatic cables to which the Bloomberg agency has had access. From these communications it transpires that they do not know the true intentions of Beijing, although it is also estimated that he could see war as an opportunity to exploit the growing economic dependency From Russia. Shortly before the invasion of Ukraine, an agreement was signed whereby Beijing will buy Russian gas and oil worth 117.5 billion dollars.
On Thursday, the Pentagon issued a global threat assessment analysis in which it asserted that “China is tightly managing its message on the conflict, generally supporting the Russian characterization as a conflict caused by US-led NATO expansion and disdain for Russian security interests & rdquor ;. “Beijing may be reluctant to fully support Russia to preserve its own economic relations with Europe and the US”assured the document, which assured that “without a doubt, China is also carefully observing how the Russian campaign is being carried out and how the fight against certain resistance is developed.”