China’s head of state Xi Jinping is visiting his counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow – with a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine. In its quest for world domination, Beijing is now looking for a solution that doesn’t completely discredit Putin, says sinologist Bernhardt Bartsch from the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.
SRF News: How interested is China in peace in Ukraine?
Bernhard Bartsch: China would like it if the war ended. However, not at any price. Beijing is looking for a face-saving exit so Russia doesn’t look like a total loser. Because China has a strong interest in its relationship with Russia and in weakening the West. That is why Beijing did not support the war against Ukraine offensively, but rather more quietly from the background.
Why can China benefit from a peace in Ukraine?
China would like to further stabilize economic relations with Russia, but also not want to spoil things with the Europeans and not allow the very difficult relationship with the USA to escalate any further. Beijing does not want to be further affected in the war in which Russia has obviously gotten lost. Even if no real peace impulse emanates from the peace plan. Because what China is proposing is not justifiable for Ukraine.
What China is proposing is not justifiable for Ukraine.
Why is China so clearly on the Russian side?
This corresponds to Chinese interests in economic and political terms. In this respect, Russia is quite useful for China by challenging the West. The Chinese were also surprised that Russia made such a miscalculation. Now they are hoping for a peace in which, above all, Putin as a person is not totally disavowed. For its part, Russia has not given up hope that China could also side with it militarily.
What are other countries doing about it, such as Japan, whose prime minister is visiting Ukraine today?
This is an amazing and very effective step on the Japanese side to steal the show from China and to signal that other countries can also be approached and that the West may be a better alternative than Beijing. Countries in Africa, Asia and South America are increasingly realizing that there are also major risks in being too closely linked to China politically.
The interview was conducted by Christina Scheidegger.