CHINA IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF RUSSIA'S WEAKNESS

While Russia faces increasing international isolation, it has a wealthy and willing trading partner in China

- JOHN DOBSON

So now we know. While Moscow is engaged in its futile attempt to take over Ukraine, Xi Jinping is doing his utmost to sneakily spread China’s influence in Russia’s backyard. So much for that famous “friendship without limits” between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. This friendship is turning out to be as phoney as Xi Jinping’s smile.

This is not to say that both sides haven’t gained substantially from their trading relationship. At a time of increasing international isolation, Russia has a wealthy and willing trading partner, providing it with an economic lifeline by buying its energy at heavy discounts. Trade between the two countries has surged since the start of the invasion. On Tuesday, Russia’s Prime Minister Mishustin said bilateral trade could reach $200 billion this year, up from $190 billion in 2022. Russian energy shipments to China are projected to rise by 40 percent this year, according to Interfax, a Russian news agency. Already in the first three months of this year, trade between China and Russia reached $53.8 billion, an almost 40 percent increase on the same period in 2022.

While Russia is concentrating on security provisions in its relationship with China, Beijing is primarily focused on economic development. The relationship is therefore more one of expediency, each side legitimising the other internationally with ties which are largely defined in opposition to the West. But this is not friendship in the traditional sense. A true friend doesn’t take advantage of the other’s weakness, as Xi Jinping is clearly doing to Vladimir Putin in Central Asia.