En mycket intressant artikel i FT. Nej, Xi är inte på väg att upprepa Putins misstag. Vem annars ska ersätta Ryssland som Europas råvaruleverantör?Financial Times skrev:From a diplomatic perspective, China’s main aim is to improve relations with some countries in the west, after a period which has at times left Beijing feeling uncomfortably isolated. The focus is on ties with Europe, which have been badly damaged by China’s support for its partner Russia throughout Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
[...]
Some are scathing. “Putin is crazy,” says one Chinese official, who declined to be identified. “The invasion decision was made by a very small group of people. China shouldn’t simply follow Russia.”
[...]
China now perceives a likelihood that Russia will fail to prevail against Ukraine and emerge from the conflict a “minor power”, much diminished economically and diplomatically on the world stage, according to Chinese officials.
[...]
No transcript of their conversation has been made public, so exactly what passed between Xi and Putin is unclear. However, one official told the FT that the closest that Putin got to informing Xi was to say that Russia “would not rule out taking whatever measures possible if eastern Ukrainian separatists attack Russian territory and cause humanitarian disasters”.
[...]
Beijing’s main ploy is to attempt to reassure European counterparts that it is willing to use the closeness of its relationship with Moscow to restrain Putin from resorting to the use of nuclear weapons, Chinese and European officials say.
[...]
Another aspect of Beijing’s strategy is to position itself not only as a potential peacemaker but also as a willing party in any postwar efforts to help rebuild Ukraine, Chinese officials say.
Controversial China Diplomat Zhao Shifted From High-Profile Role
Ännu ett tecken på att Kina kovänder.Bloomberg skrev:China has transferred a senior diplomat closely associated with the Foreign Ministry’s more confrontational shift in recent years to a new role, in the latest sign that Beijing is rethinking its so-called Wolf Warrior approach.
[...]
The assertive approach was popular with Chinese internet audiences eager for a response to then-US President Donald Trump’s Twitter-driven foreign policy. But it also contributed to a collapse in public support across the developed world, with the share of people in the US with unfavorable views of China rising to 82% in 2021.