Zürcher Nachrichten - China moves closer to Russia, but wary on Ukraine

EUR -
AED 4.176264
AFN 79.390778
ALL 98.193331
AMD 435.359105
ANG 2.034873
AOA 1043.206027
ARS 1289.7675
AUD 1.750315
AWG 2.048029
AZN 1.937421
BAM 1.956066
BBD 2.291911
BDT 138.25877
BGN 1.95741
BHD 0.428558
BIF 3378.258635
BMD 1.137004
BND 1.460198
BOB 7.844065
BRL 6.420327
BSD 1.135154
BTN 96.761136
BWP 15.237069
BYN 3.714804
BYR 22285.28547
BZD 2.28011
CAD 1.561847
CDF 3257.517905
CHF 0.934014
CLF 0.027894
CLP 1070.435323
CNY 8.191325
CNH 8.155272
COP 4741.443703
CRC 577.378385
CUC 1.137004
CUP 30.130616
CVE 110.279972
CZK 24.862424
DJF 202.137442
DKK 7.464552
DOP 67.039101
DZD 150.321408
EGP 56.7187
ERN 17.055065
ETB 153.667162
FJD 2.560311
FKP 0.846948
GBP 0.840017
GEL 3.115836
GGP 0.846948
GHS 12.542703
GIP 0.846948
GMD 81.864718
GNF 9833.334982
GTQ 8.713183
GYD 237.482241
HKD 8.906212
HNL 29.547011
HRK 7.538002
HTG 148.530165
HUF 403.94398
IDR 18472.057095
ILS 4.106035
IMP 0.846948
INR 96.806883
IQD 1487.001877
IRR 47896.309096
ISK 145.150415
JEP 0.846948
JMD 180.384489
JOD 0.806181
JPY 162.097072
KES 146.699916
KGS 99.431468
KHR 4543.616845
KMF 494.032708
KPW 1023.258258
KRW 1552.841401
KWD 0.348504
KYD 0.945928
KZT 580.568819
LAK 24524.329445
LBP 101705.707657
LKR 339.836136
LRD 227.020821
LSL 20.317958
LTL 3.357279
LVL 0.687763
LYD 6.201842
MAD 10.434117
MDL 19.682672
MGA 5075.68908
MKD 61.538355
MMK 2387.267736
MNT 4064.582023
MOP 9.154843
MRU 45.143129
MUR 51.9729
MVR 17.578517
MWK 1968.267214
MXN 21.880062
MYR 4.81071
MZN 72.666378
NAD 20.317958
NGN 1807.613767
NIO 41.775672
NOK 11.490912
NPR 154.818018
NZD 1.899598
OMR 0.437609
PAB 1.135154
PEN 4.153064
PGK 4.653632
PHP 62.956357
PKR 319.939835
PLN 4.25999
PYG 9056.229482
QAR 4.137262
RON 5.055353
RSD 117.235916
RUB 90.212247
RWF 1626.02075
SAR 4.264548
SBD 9.494859
SCR 16.27821
SDG 682.775298
SEK 10.838385
SGD 1.46367
SHP 0.893507
SLE 25.833161
SLL 23842.413185
SOS 648.688066
SRD 42.270984
STD 23533.694664
SVC 9.932348
SYP 14782.417917
SZL 20.312758
THB 36.956096
TJS 11.63488
TMT 3.9852
TND 3.392961
TOP 2.662982
TRY 44.176603
TTD 7.716048
TWD 34.07864
TZS 3061.915688
UAH 47.117797
UGX 4143.562534
USD 1.137004
UYU 47.156402
UZS 14647.988624
VES 107.840913
VND 29509.811178
VUV 137.766044
WST 3.14678
XAF 656.046065
XAG 0.03395
XAU 0.000339
XCD 3.072812
XDR 0.815911
XOF 656.046065
XPF 119.331742
YER 277.258926
ZAR 20.288547
ZMK 10234.40773
ZMW 31.045215
ZWL 366.11494
  • SCS

    -0.0600

    10.09

    -0.59%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    21.89

    +0.73%

  • NGG

    1.1600

    74.79

    +1.55%

  • RIO

    0.4600

    61.58

    +0.75%

  • RELX

    0.4600

    55.44

    +0.83%

  • RBGPF

    65.0500

    65.05

    +100%

  • VOD

    -0.0700

    10.47

    -0.67%

  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    21.94

    -0.09%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    86.56

    -0.89%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.69

    +0.39%

  • RYCEF

    0.1200

    11.32

    +1.06%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    21.53

    +0.28%

  • GSK

    -0.2600

    38.66

    -0.67%

  • AZN

    0.4600

    70.41

    +0.65%

  • BTI

    0.6200

    45.22

    +1.37%

  • BP

    0.1500

    29.09

    +0.52%

China moves closer to Russia, but wary on Ukraine
China moves closer to Russia, but wary on Ukraine

China moves closer to Russia, but wary on Ukraine

China and Russia set off alarms in the West this month with the most robust declaration of their friendship in decades but Beijing has signalled it would not back Vladimir Putin if he sent troops in to invade Ukraine.

Text size:

The February 4 joint statement by the neighbours included unprecedented support from Beijing for Moscow's opposition to the expansion of NATO, and came as Washington and its allies were warning of full-scale Russian military action against Kyiv.

It was "quite a quantum shift from what has been a steady intensification, elevation of the content of Russia-China declarations over the last 20 years", former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd said during an online discussion co-hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank and the Asia Society.

"It is China becoming a global security actor in a way that I personally have not seen before."

China's unusually direct position on NATO and support for Moscow's "reasonable" security concerns have, however, placed it on a diplomatic tightrope, forcing it to balance its close Russia ties with major economic interests in Europe.

With more than 150,000 troops massed on the border with Ukraine, Russia has demanded guarantees that Kyiv will never be allowed to join NATO -- a position in stark contrast to China's long-standing stated foreign policy red line: no interference in other countries' internal affairs.

When asked if there was a contradiction, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference via video link Saturday that the sovereignty of all nations should be respected.

"Ukraine is no exception," he said.

That position was tested in just two days.

Russian President Putin on Monday recognised two "republics" in Ukraine held by pro-Moscow separatist rebels, and ordered the deployment of troops there.

The United States and its allies blasted Russia for violating the sovereignty of Ukraine at an emergency UN Security Council meeting, but China was circumspect, urging restraint by "all sides".

Putin has "denied the territorial independence and sovereignty -- indeed, the very existence -- of Ukraine", Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to NATO, wrote on Twitter.

"Both were core... (tenets) of China's approach to the crisis. Putin has blown both to bits."

- Delicate balance -

This is not the first time China has had to strike a delicate balance between its interests and a major international escalation by its strategic partner Russia.

When Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, China did not join Russia's veto of a UN Security Council resolution on the issue, instead abstaining and mainly offering economic support.

Eight years later, experts say there are again limits to what Beijing can -- or wants to -- do for Moscow.

Among the key factors are trade and financial links with Europe. Overt backing of any Russian belligerence could also threaten the major investment deal Beijing is trying to seal with the bloc.

Further, some analysts say China may not want to escalate already high tensions with the United States.

"The Ukraine crisis... carries significant risk of the bottom falling out of (China's) relationships with the EU and the US," wrote Bill Bishop in the Sinocism China Newsletter.

"I do not believe that Xi and his team want to see Russia invade Ukraine, as they understand the risks from the expected reaction to any invasion."

Others said that, with its support for Moscow's concerns about NATO, Beijing may be looking to its own future security interests.

By implicitly siding with Moscow, Beijing gains "considerable diplomatic leverage" and "presumes that Russia will act likewise when China finds itself in a critical security situation", Richard Ghiasy, an expert at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, told AFP.

- Act of defiance -

Despite Beijing's guarded language on Ukraine, observers say the China-Russia joint announcement is still a stark challenge to the United States and its allies beyond the current crisis.

The statement contained challenges to the definitions of democracy and human rights, which Moscow and Beijing have been accused of violating by the West for years.

This prompted scathing criticism in Europe, with some accusing two authoritarian regimes of trying to redefine universal concepts to suit their agenda.

"It's an act of defiance," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday.

"It's a clear revisionist manifesto."

S.Scheidegger--NZN