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China will not dump Russia on the brink of economic war with the West
The West has stepped up pressure on China as Russia’s rear in the proxy war with the West in Ukraine. Will Xi Jinping stand firm or will he slide into opportunistic cooperation with the United States?
Photo: kremlin.ru by The Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0
The West treats China as a whipping boy
At the November 18 meeting of the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on China to “stop”:
- fomenting war on the European continent;
- supporting Russia’s military actions;
- supplying dual-use goods to Russia;
- repeating Russian theses justifying the war.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, instead of focusing on the economic agenda, arrogantly criticized China’s human rights policy at a meeting with Chinese State Council Chairman Xi Jinping at the G20.
“”A strong UK-China relationship is important for both of our countries and for the broader international community. The UK will be a predictable, consistent, sovereign actor committed to the rule of law. I’m very pleased that my foreign secretary and Foreign Minister Wang met recently and discussed respective concerns including human rights and parliamentary sanctions, Taiwan, the South China Sea and our and our shared interest in Hong Kong. We are concerned by reports of Jimmy Lai’s deteriorating health in prison,” Starmer said.
Starmer’s human rights remarks made Xi go ballistic. The Chinese leader ordered his security to show British journalists out of the auditorium as Starmer was speaking.
The West wants China to impede the development of relations between Russia and the DPRK. Beijing also rejected this.
Xi’s response to Trump’s pressure will be tough
As soon as Donald Trump takes the oath of office in January and becomes President, the pressure on Beijing will increase. Trump promised to impose import tariffs of at least 60 percent on Chinese goods. Such a move will hurt China’s export economy, but the Americans will see completely different prices in stores too.
Xi’s response, as can be judged by the experience of Trump’s first mandate, will be just as harsh and resolute. A call on social media to boycott US brands will cause the sales of US goods in China to collapse. China may also tighten the rules for issuing permits, safety checks, licenses for American companies.
China may also stop purchasing agricultural products from the United States, such as soybeans. Beijing may turn to Brazil as an alternative market, whereas Trump will be left with huge problems in US rural areas, where he enjoys strong support.
The United States has huge economic problems, and it is not in Trump’s interests to exacerbate them.
USA’s virtual economy makes no rivalry to Russia and China
The US can not compete with China in terms of prices on commodity goods. The US is no competition to Russia in terms of prices on energy. October was a record month for trade between China and Russia. It appears that the countries found a way to resolve the payment problem as Chinese customs data show a steady increase in imports since August.
China will not turn its back on Russia, not even amid fears of losing economic war with the United States. Beijing is building relations with Moscow on the basis of long-term plans to build a Greater Eurasia. Making trifle deals with Washington is not something that China wants to pursue. Russia is China’s largest land neighbor, a global economy, a nuclear power with modern warfare experience. No one has canceled the Taiwan issue. This is something that requires a long-term line and an unchanging position.
Details
Xi Jinping (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus the paramount leader of China, since 2012. Xi has been serving as the 7th and current president of China since 2013. As a member of the fifth generation of Chinese leadership, Xi is the first CCP general secretary born after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
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