On May 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was interviewed by the Russian-language newspaper Argumenty i Fakty. The interview focused on Russia-US relations, Russia-Ukraine relations, and finally, when referring to Russia-China relations, Lavrov said that he would not ally with the Chinese Communist Party and also hinted that he had no intention to join the Cold War between China and the US. The Chinese Communist Party was disappointed and had to try to round up the situation on its own.
Reporters first focused on Russian-US relations, mentioning the dilemma of the withdrawal of the Russian-US ambassador. Lavrov acknowledged the difficulties in Russian-US relations, but intentionally lowered the tone, saying that the recall of the ambassador was a normal diplomatic act, and looked forward to the meeting of the two heads of state and the improvement of relations. Compared to Chinese Communist Party Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s war-wolf attitude toward the U.S., the Russian foreign minister’s answers were quite measured and significantly released a desire to improve Russian-U.S. relations.
Much of the interview centered on Russia’s relations with the U.S. and Ukraine, with only a mention of Russia-China relations at the end. The journalist asked quite directly: Russia and China are at the same barrier in confronting the United States. Is it possible for Moscow and Beijing to build an alliance in this context, maybe even a military-political union?
Lavrov repeated his previous attitude, saying that Russian-Chinese relations are “at an all-time high,” adding that “the existing model of bilateral relations is to some extent better than the alliance formed during the Cold War.
The journalist did not mention the Cold War, but the Russian foreign minister took the initiative to draw an analogy with the Cold War, so there is something in it. In the Russian foreign minister’s view, the U.S. and China are actually in a state of cold war, or close to it, and the former Soviet Union, as a former Cold War party, should have its own judgment of the current situation. Using such an analogy, Lavrov subtly dismissed the possibility of a Russian-Chinese alliance and only acknowledged the good bilateral relations between Russia and China; at the same time, he revealed Russia’s assessment and position on the confrontational dynamics between China and the United States, namely that Russia will not participate in the confrontation, or the Cold War between China and the United States.
Lavrov further stated that “we are both satisfied with the existing form of cooperation. It allows us to solve any even the most difficult problems in bilateral dialogue”; although he also said he agreed with Wang Yi that Russian-Chinese cooperation “has no end in sight,” he actually reiterated that it would not move further toward an alliance.
At the May 25 press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, spokesman Zhao Lijian tried to elevate Sino-Russian relations again, saying that “the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership of China and Russia in the new era is as solid as a rock”; but he also had to respond that “the two sides have always adhered to non-alignment and non-confrontation” and practiced “multilateralism”. “The Russian Federation has confirmed more than once that it is a “multilateralist” country.
Russia has confirmed more than once that it will not ally with the Chinese Communist Party, and the Russian foreign minister reiterated it again this time, deliberately referring to the Cold War, which should be directly related to the upcoming Russia-US summit. The subject of this interview is actually Russia-U.S. relations. The Russian foreign minister first showed goodwill to the U.S. and finally talked about relations with the CCP, more to speak to the U.S. government and imply that he will not join the CCP in confronting the U.S. Obviously, Russia-US relations are more important than Russia-China relations, and Russia-US relations will also affect Russia’s relations with Europe and various Western countries, which is more important, Russia posed a clearer attitude.
On May 19, the Communist Party media reported in high profile that Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin had participated in a video ceremony for the start of a Russian-Chinese nuclear energy cooperation project. With the U.S.-China relationship struggling to improve and the EU freezing the China-EU Investment Agreement, the Communist Party’s top brass is desperate to pull Russia in to show it is not isolated. At this juncture, Russia’s attitude hurts the CCP top brass badly. Russia sees a good opportunity to improve relations with the United States, and the CCP is eager to pull Russia against the United States, but in turn is being used by Russia as a bargaining chip with the United States.
The Chinese Communist Party knew it was embarrassed, but had to rush to round up the situation. Xinhua immediately quoted Zhao Lijian as saying, “Foreign Ministry: Appreciate Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s recent positive statement on China-Russia relations,” saying that “they always respect each other’s core interests and take care of each other’s reasonable concerns.
The Chinese Communist Party media sang the negative news into a hymn, but Russia apparently did not give the Chinese Communist Party what it wanted, as Russia was concerned about its own interests, but did not take care of the “core interests” or “concerns” of the Chinese Communist Party’s top brass.
On May 25, the White House duly announced that Biden and Putin would meet in Geneva on June 16. The U.S. government should have picked up on the signal released by the Russian foreign minister in time, and the summit meeting was immediately finalized. With the U.S.-China diplomatic talks in Alaska stalled and the U.S.-China summit meeting an unknown, the early appearance of the U.S.-Russia summit meeting means that the U.S. has made a strategic choice between Communist China and Russia. The U.S. and Russia have been longtime rivals, and relations are unlikely to be as good as they have been, but a review of the situation makes it imperative to ease relations.
After the quadrilateral summit between the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, followed by the U.S.-Japan summit, then the G7+4 foreign ministers’ talks, and the U.S.-South Korea summit just met, the U.S.-Russia talks are imminent, leaving the Communist Party top brass completely hung out to dry. It is becoming increasingly clear that the U.S. government is building a broad anti-communist alliance, and that even countries that cannot join the close alliance need to at least state that they will not join the Chinese Communist Party in confronting the U.S. All major countries in the world are basically choosing sides one by one.
The Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to stir up trouble should be in the eyes of all countries, and the Chinese Communist Party’s poor performance in this conflict may further push the process of uniting countries against the Communist Party. The situation is becoming clearer, as the CCP’s top brass is bent on confrontation and hegemony, but now it is hard to pull in help. The “bottom line” should also be gone.
The international trend, and the top of the CCP is facing the fierce infighting over the power transition at the 20th National Congress, may have to continue to struggle, and the drastic changes in the external situation will also lead to more violent turmoil within the CCP.
Recent Comments