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Who can stop Russia’s war in Ukraine? European and U.S. diplomats have worked hard to win help from China, a country powerful enough and close enough to Russia, they hope, to change Vladimir Putin’s plans. On March 8, China’s President Xi Jinping held a video call with France’s Emmanuel Macron and German’s Olaf Scholz to talk about the war, fueling hopes that Xi will become more actively involved in brokering a deal to end the fighting.
No one should get their hopes up.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
The war in Ukraine is hurting China
There’s no doubt that Russia’s war is bad for Beijing. China imports more oil than any country on Earth, and the conflict in Ukraine has pushed prices to their highest levels since 2008. It needs energy, metals, and minerals to fuel its economy, and agricultural products to feed its people. (Both Russia and Ukraine are major suppliers of wheat and other food products, and the U.N. warned that, depending on how long it lasts, the war could drive food prices between 8% and 20% higher this year.) All these commodities have become much more expensive for China and everyone else since the Russians crossed Ukraine’s borders.
President Xi also acknowledged this week that Western sanctions “will affect global finance, energy, transportation, and the stability of supply chains, and dampen the global economy that is already ravaged by the pandemic.” By publicly blaming sanctions for the upheaval, he’s careful not to hold Putin accountable, but he knows that the war in Ukraine is a war of choice— and he knows whose choice it is.
The invasion is also damaging China’s international reputation. Xi understands that many Europeans and Americans are ready to tag China’s as Russia’s accomplice. On the eve of last month’s Winter Olympic Games in China, Putin and Xi met and made a big show of their emerging “friendship,” which their joint statement claimed had “no limits.” Two weeks later, Russian invaded Ukraine. If Xi knew what Putin had in…
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Source : time
