A few days before the offensive launched by Moscow against Kiev, a Taiwanese columnist analyzed, in a magazine published in Hong Kong, the Sino-Russian rapprochement which includes reciprocal support concerning Ukraine and Taiwan. The only lever that can make Beijing change its mind is the economic weight of Europe, believes this analyst.
The meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of the Beijing Winter Olympics was followed by a joint statement. In particular, they affirmed their “Opposition to future NATO enlargement” and asked the Atlantic organization “to abandon an ideology worthy of the cold war”. Moreover, Russia “reaffirms its support for the one-China principle, recognizing Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory and opposing any form ‘Taiwan independence’”.
French media have seen, in the closer cooperation between these two countries, the establishment of a new axis, which would presage an escalation in future confrontations between maritime powers and land powers, and between authoritarianism and democracy. The world could not in the future escape the shock wave caused by this kind of confrontation.
Faced with pressure from the United States and the West, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are getting closer. They like to show their mutual support in major international issues [ce qui se traduit depuis des années par des votes identiques au Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies], and they have signed several cooperation agreements. Many Western scholars worry about the formation of an axis of authoritarian regimes, dominated by China and Russia. There is also no lack of Cassandre who believe that the two countries will have difficulty in resolving their latent contradictions, and that their union, of pure facade, will not last.
One of their most illustrious representatives is Craig Singleton, a former American diplomat and researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (the FDD, Foundation for Defense of Democracies), a think tank in Washington. In an article published in Foreign Policy, he affirms that Xi Jinping does not want to be dragged by Putin into a conflict with the NATO countries now, and underlines that the European and American governments could use trade sanctions to break the alliance between these two dictators.
A far-reaching cooperation agreement
In fact, this analysis is undoubtedly very subjective. By reading the Sino-Russian joint statement, one realizes the extent of the field of in-depth strategic cooperation between the two countries, since it is a question both of the project [chinois de développement des infrastructures internationales] of the new Silk Roads as well as the enhancement of the Arctic, access to technology, protection of the climate and biodiversity, and the increased integration of economic strategies. Moreover, in return for its support for the pressure exerted by Russia on Ukraine, China can count on Russia’s support for its claims on Taiwan, which constitutes reciprocal military backing. In the same field, the two parties will strengthen cooperation with regard to the transfer of military technology, nuclear weapons and space strategy.
The two countries clearly show their desire to unite against the United States and its allies: they declare their opposition to European and American takeovers, attempts at intimidation, unilateral sanctions,
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