Amid global economic uncertainty sparked by Russia’s war on Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Thursday, highlighting his responsibility to “inject stability into a turbulent world”.
In a rare admission, Putin said he was aware of China’s “questions and concerns” about the war, but assured Xi he would address them all in their first face-to-face meeting since the 24 February.
Xi said China is willing to work with Russia to “demonstrate the responsibility of an important country to play a leading role and inject stability into a turbulent world,” according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
The Chinese president said China would support Russia’s core interests as the two countries test the limits of their friendship, disrupted by Russia’s pushback on the invasion. But the detached formality of their meeting was a far cry from the warmth of their “no-limits” friendship agreement when Putin attended the Beijing Winter Olympics weeks before the war.
In a meeting that was symbolically crucial for Putin, who sought to demonstrate continued global influence, he told Xi: “We greatly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends on the Ukraine crisis, we understand your questions and concerns about this issue and during the day today. Of course, we will clarify all this in detail,” Putin said in his opening speech in Uzbekistan, opening a meeting with Xi, whom he addressed as his “dear and longtime friend.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping received a welcoming ceremony in Uzbekistan on September 15 ahead of a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Video: Reuters)
The Russian leader added that Russia is committed to the one-China principle and “condemned the provocations” of the United States in Taiwan.
When the two leaders met in February to declare the start of their “borderless” partnership, they also signaled the start of a new alignment of two of the world’s most powerful authoritarian states.
Since then, Russia’s war against Ukraine has gone worse for Moscow than anyone expected, with Russia facing repeated humiliating military setbacks, while Putin has been largely shunned by Western leaders and the Russian economy has been hit by unprecedented sanctions.
China’s Xi visits Central Asia ahead of planned meeting with Putin
Their first face-to-face meeting since the start of the war, held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, comes at a fragile time for the two leaders, testing the boundless what this friendship really is.
Russian forces have suffered impressive losses on the battlefield in Ukraine. Beijing, meanwhile, is increasingly at odds with Western countries over Taiwan and human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
For Putin, the meeting sends a crucial message that he remains a global player, with friends who share his authoritarian views and determination to create a new world order in which the United States no longer dominates.
For Xi, his first trip abroad in nearly three years marks his diplomatic resurgence ahead of a party congress in October, when he hopes to secure a record-breaking third term.
“It is, of course, a show of mutual support and solidarity, a message primarily for the United States and the West,” said Yun Sun, director of the Stimson Center’s China program.
However, Xi is unlikely to offer Putin more concrete support. Doing so could risk a Western pushback that would exacerbate a growing list of domestic challenges, including a slowing Chinese economy, a housing crisis and public discontent with strict “zero covid” policies.
China has maintained a delicate balance in Russia’s war against Ukraine, calling for peace while endorsing Russian complaints that NATO was to blame for the alliance’s expansion. Beijing has tried to provide moral support to Putin without directly supporting the invasion or sending financial or military aid that would lead to secondary sanctions.
Having pledged to maintain normal trade relations with Moscow, China has continued to export goods to Russia as well as import Russian oil and gas. Bilateral trade grew 31 percent in the first eight months of 2022, according to Chinese customs data.
“Concrete support for the war in Ukraine is unlikely,” Sun said. “Military support and assistance is not on the cards. China does not need to support Russia in war; it just does not oppose it.”
China is likely to continue its approach, which some analysts have called “straddling Beijing,” of diplomatic support for Russia in a partnership aimed at countering a Washington-led international order while complying with Western sanctions.
In recent days, however, China has shown stronger support for Russia. Li Zhanshu, China’s third-highest leader, visited Moscow last week and stressed that Beijing has provided “support with coordinated action” to Russia as it responded to security threats “on its doorstep.”
A Russian reading of the meeting said Li expressed support for the war, but the Chinese version was more tempered, saying Li said China “fully understands and supports” Russia’s security interests.
Despite China’s efforts to strike a balance, Xi’s meeting with Putin will invite more questions about China’s position in the conflict.
“The trip is in line with Mr. Xi’s strategic vision of close ties with Moscow, but the meeting with the Russian leader may make it difficult for Xi to claim that he is not somehow facilitating Russia’s aggression,” he said Joseph Torigian, assistant professor focusing on Russia and China at American University.
The rapid loss of territory in Ukraine reveals the spent Russian army
At the talks, the Kremlin described Russian-Chinese ties as “at an unprecedentedly high level,” saying it “attaches great importance to China’s balanced approach to the Ukraine crisis.”
The Kremlin claims that the partnership between Moscow and Beijing ensures “global and regional stability”, although Russia’s war against Ukraine has destabilized the region, creating particular uncertainties in Central Asia.
“The countries jointly advocate the formation of a just, democratic and multipolar world order based on international law and the central role of the United Nations,” a Kremlin statement said.
In Uzbekistan, Xi faces the added discomfort of maintaining neutrality while attending a summit with Central Asian countries, most of which oppose the war and worry about possible Russian incursion into their territories .
Before flying to Samarkand, Xi visited Kazakhstan where he met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in a symbolically important first stop, where he appeared to send a subtle message about the war in Ukraine, pledging to strongly support Kazakhstan’s efforts to protect its independence, sovereignty and territory. integrity, “no matter how much the international situation changes”.
Russia has shown irritation at Kazakhstan’s refusal to support the war or recognize the independence of two Russian proxy “republics” in eastern Ukraine.
Like Ukraine, Kazakhstan has a significant Russian-speaking component, 18 percent of the population, concentrated in the north of the country. With Moscow’s oft-stated historical mission to “protect” Russian speakers around the world, one of the reasons it gave for the invasion of Ukraine, they are seen as a source of insecurity.
Xi’s trips to Central Asia are part of long-term efforts to establish better trade routes and connectivity in the region, an increasingly urgent task as China faces the possibility of conflict in the strait of Taiwan and the South China Sea which could hamper access to maritime transport. lanes
In protest at a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China in August launched large-scale military exercises simulating a blockade of the main island of Taiwan, prompting what has been known as the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis.
“That makes this trip very important because Xi is basically there on a mission to convince Central Asian leaders that having a strong relationship with China is still important. [and to] please consider our goals and what we can give you,” said Niva Yau, a senior fellow at the OSCE Academy, a foreign policy think tank in Kyrgyzstan.
In Central Asia, where countries have for years had to navigate between two superpowers locked in quiet competition, a diminished Putin could give Beijing a chance to expand its footprint.
“The saying is that China has the deep pockets and Russia has the weapons,” said Theresa Fallon, director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels. “The question now is, as Russia’s military footprint possibly recedes in the region, will China grow?”