Concerns grow over a deepening partnership between Russia and China
by KRISTINE FRAZAO | The National DeskTue, May 21st 2024 at 3:41 PM
Updated Tue, May 21st 2024 at 3:43 PM
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during their dinner at The Palace of the Facets is a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
WASHINGTON (TND) — It’s a relationship forged out of common disdain for the West, now described as one with “no limits .”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met more than 40 times over the years, in a partnership experts warn is deepening.
“I think the Ukraine war has brought them together. This is a strategic nightmare to see of them hug like this, usually, Xi Jinping is a little more restrained,” Michael Pillsbury, a senior fellow on China strategy for The Heritage Foundation said in an interview with Fox News Saturday.
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and Western allies levied heavy sanctions on Russia in hopes of hitting its economy. But within months China stepped in, upping its imports of Russian oil.
Last year Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia to become China’s largest oil supplier, as trade between the two countries hit a record high of $240 billion, with China also said to be providing Russia with supplies needed to build tanks armored vehicles and missiles, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who laid out his concerns in an April 26 interview with the BBC.
70% of the machine tools that Russia is getting from abroad are coming from China. 90% of the microelectronics. It’s helping Russia perpetuate its aggression against Ukraine, but it’s also creating a growing threat to Europe.”
It’s a threat that comes alongside charges of unfair trade practices from China, with accusations it flooded global markets with low-priced exports.
In response, President Biden just announced new tariffs on imports of electric cars, solar panels, aluminum and steel.
Critics warn it will draw China and Russia even closer together, suggesting the U.S. instead should have had a more aggressive role in negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, which may have slowed China and Russia’s deepening ties.
“China and Russia are outgunning us if they combine their nuclear forces. This is another example of the cost of driving them together. We wanted to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world – not increase,” Pillsbury said.
Now there are new concerns the alliance may be growing, with a Russian delegation reportedly spending this week in North Korea.
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