February 28, 2022
Why China Sees Opportunity in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
As Russian forces rolled into Ukraine, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki if the Biden administration was doing anything to prevent China from backing Russia’s aggression. Psaki’s response: “It is really a question for China, on whether they look at that and think that is acceptable behavior.”
In recent weeks, China has touted its strategic partnership with Russia while being circumspect about Moscow’s threats to Ukraine, raising questions about whether the two authoritarian powers will stick together. There’s even been speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin conferred with Chinese President Xi Jinping before deciding to invade or that China will take notes for a future invasion of Taiwan.
China will likely continue to walk a fine line to skirt international condemnation, as the readout from Xi’s Friday call with Putin shows.
The reality is that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was probably not China’s preferred outcome. But now that it’s happened, China will likely find ways to support Russia while leveraging the crisis for its own benefit. The two countries genuinely share a worldview of the West as aggressor and China and Russia as victims. More tangibly, China will also seek to profit from Russia’s economic and political isolation.
But this war fits squarely with China’s preferred global order: a world in which big countries enjoy a “sphere of influence” that gives them the final say over political, military and economic affairs in their neighborhood.
Read the full article from POLITICO.
More from CNAS
-
Japan Is Emerging as a Regional Security Power Broker
Commentary
While Japan’s re-emergence as a security partner in the Indo-Pacific may not be welcomed by its geopolitical antagonists, Tokyo’s multilateral approach to preserving the statu...
By Derek Grossman
-
China Presses a Weakness in America’s Tech Policy
Commentary
America’s semiconductor strategy now must confront not only who controls the factories, tools, and materials required to make chips, but also who controls the language those c...
By David Feith
-
CNAS Insights | Japan isn’t rearming. It’s adapting to a new era.
CNAS Insights
Japan’s defense posture is changing and changing fast. Military spending has increased sharply over the past four years. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are acquiring long-r...
By Richard Fontaine
-
Tale as Old as Time: Security, Strategy, and U.S.-ASEAN Statecraft
Video
Everyone wants the U.S. race car. Who's willing to wait for it? On this month's episode of Bottom Line with USABC, President & CEO Amb. Brian McFeeters sits down with Lindsey ...
By Lindsey Ford
