South China Morning Post: China cannot allow Russia's defeat in the war with Ukraine
China allegedly cannot afford Russia's defeat in the war against Ukraine because of fears that US attention will shift to Beijing. This was stated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the European Union's chief diplomat Kaja Kallas at the 13th meeting of the EU-China Strategic Dialogue in Brussels on July 3, , several people familiar with the talks told South China Morning Post.
At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Minister denied accusations that Beijing is providing financial and military support to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He noted that if China really did so, the full-scale war "would have ended long ago.".
One interpretation of the minister's statement is that although China has not called for war, its continuation may be in Beijing's strategic interests as long as the United States remains involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As SCMP notes, some EU officials involved in the situation were surprised by the frankness and harshness of Wang Yi's statements. These words could confirm China's true position, which does not correspond to Beijing's public statements that the country is "not a party to the conflict.".
Two unnamed officials said that some EU representatives regarded the dialogue between Wang Yi and Kallas as "a lesson in realpolitik, in which China truly believes that Washington will soon turn its full attention to the East.
- Ukraine's foreign intelligence service has reported that Russia, together with China, plans to implement two projects in occupied Crimea totaling $10 billion. These include a port and a railroad.
- During a meeting with Wang Yi, German Chief Diplomat Wadefull urged China to use its influence on Russia, to convince Putin to end the war and sit down at the negotiating table.
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