100 days of Russia-Ukraine conflict: How China's choices have damaged its external environment
India Today
After 100 days of the Russia-Ukraine war, let us see how China's choices have damaged its external environment.
Earlier this week, a lengthy front page commentary in the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, bemoaned the deterioration of China’s external environment. The author warned that following the war in Ukraine, “instability, uncertainty and insecurity” were on the rise, and that the West, led by the US, was doubling down on policies aimed at “containing and suppressing” China.
Although the author called for focus on running internal affairs well and dismissed external factors as not being “decisive” in China’s pursuit of its goal of national rejuvenation, the assessment does reveal how deeply the war in Ukraine has adversely affected China’s strategic interests.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February had left China in an unenviable position of having to balance a set of competing interests. These included maintaining its close alignment with Russia; containing the economic costs of Western sanctions in terms of their impact on commodity prices, supply chains and Chinese enterprises; not appearing supportive of what was clearly a blatant violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state; avoiding the acceleration of bloc-style confrontation in the Indo-Pacific; and keeping the developing world on its side.
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In response, Beijing has muddled through, achieving sub-optimal outcomes.
Ever since the war began, China has sought to preserve and deepen its strategic partnership with Russia. While talking about upholding the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and its position of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, Beijing has refused to condemn Russia’s actions as an invasion. Instead, it has extended tremendous rhetorical support to Moscow.
Chinese diplomats and state media outlets have not only adopted the Russian narrative of NATO’s eastward expansion and the US’ quest to sustain its hegemony being the root cause of the conflict, they have also acted as agents of amplification for Russian disinformation.
