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SkinnedWolf
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06 Jun 2022, 8:50 pm

China’s Ukraine Conundrum - Why the War Necessitates a Balancing Act
By Yan Xuetong. May 2, 2022

Quote:
Russia’s war in Ukraine has produced a strategic predicament for China. On the one hand, the conflict has disrupted billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese trade, heightened tensions in East Asia, and deepened political polarization within China by dividing people into pro- and anti-Russia camps. On the other, China blames the United States for provoking Russia with its support for NATO expansion and worries that Washington will seek to prolong the conflict in Ukraine in order to bog down Russia. Beijing sees little to gain from joining the international chorus condemning Moscow.

Regardless of what China says or does in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to wage war in Ukraine, Washington is unlikely to soften its strategy of containment toward Beijing. And as China’s largest and most militarily capable neighbor, Russia is not a power that Beijing wishes to antagonize. Chinese policymakers have therefore sought to avoid unnecessarily provoking either rival power—abstaining from votes to condemn Russia in the UN General Assembly and carefully selecting its official statements about the war.

This balancing strategy is not without costs. Refusing to condemn Russia has strained China’s relations with some of its neighbors and distanced Beijing from many developing nations that have lined up against Russia’s war in Ukraine. It has also incurred economic costs stemming from Russia’s war that could continue long into the future. Nonetheless, in order to minimize its strategic losses, China will likely hew to this middle path until the war in Ukraine is over. One thing that might shift Beijing’s calculus and push it to side with Russia is if the United States provides military support for a Taiwanese declaration of de jure independence. Barring that, Beijing will likely continue its balancing act, since Washington’s policy of containment toward China makes it very difficult for Beijing to side with the United States on the war in Ukraine.

CAUGHT IN A BIND
Since the beginning of the conflict, Western powers have accused China of passively or even actively supporting Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. In March, for instance, The New York Times reported unverified claims that Russia shared its war plans with China ahead of the conflict. But as Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the United States, pointed out in a March 15 op-ed in The Washington Post, China had much to lose from Russia’s actions: “There were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine. China is the biggest trading partner of both Russia and Ukraine, and the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. Conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it.”

In reality, Qin understated the war’s negative impact on China. The conflict has roiled commodities markets and disrupted supply chains, resulting in billions of dollars of losses for Chinese firms. The Chinese nickel titan Tsingshan Holding Group, for instance, lost $8 billion on ill-timed trades after the war dramatically caused the price of nickel to spike. War-related disruptions have also resulted in large-scale cancellations of Chinese export orders and weakened Chinese industrial productivity. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index—which tracks economic activity in the manufacturing sector—declined by 0.7 percent in March, a much worse performance than market analysts had forecast and the first monthly contraction since August 2021.

The war has also heightened tensions between China and some of its neighbors. As the rivalry between Washington and Beijing has intensified, many East Asian nations have adopted hedging strategies to balance ties to both powers. But the conflict in Ukraine has driven some of these countries to lean more heavily toward the United States. In addition, the conflict has given Washington an excuse to approve another $95 million in military aid to Taiwan—the third U.S. arms package that Taipei has received since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. And it is not just China’s relations with its neighbors that have suffered: in March, two-thirds of UN member states voted to condemn Russia in a pair of resolutions at the UN General Assembly while only five voted not to and 35 abstained. China’s presence in the latter group will be remembered by many small and midsized countries, especially in the developing world.

To make matters worse, the war has further strained relations between China and the United States and its allies. Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom have all said they will join the United States in imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese companies that continue to do business as usual with Russia.

Finally, the war in Ukraine has deepened political polarization within China itself. On WeChat and other social media platforms, Chinese citizens have coalesced into opposing camps, one for Russia and the other against. Soon after the conflict began, some anti-Russia Chinese netizens began rehashing the unfairness of the 1858 Treaty of Aigun, which ceded roughly 230,000 square miles of Chinese territory to Russia. The political sensitivity of this historical event has in the past made Beijing wary of supporting any Russian efforts at territorial expansion. In this case, however, Beijing must give sincere consideration to the anti-Russian sentiment among some Chinese citizens.

“FUEL TO THE FLAMES”
Despite the war’s negative impacts on China, however, Beijing is not prepared to accept Washington’s approach toward the conflict. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Chinese government has argued that the United States provoked Russia by pushing for NATO’s eastward expansion. It now sees Washington as deliberately escalating the war in order to perpetuate it, thereby weakening both Russia and China. In a virtual call on March 5, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China opposes any moves that "add fuel to the flames" in Ukraine. Chinese leaders and journalists have since repeated the phrase, underscoring Beijing’s distrust of Washington’s intentions. On March 30, for instance, the state-run People’s Daily published an editorial arguing that by “adding fuel to the flames” the United States “is creating larger obstacles to a political solution of this crisis.”

Having failed to deter Russia from waging war in Ukraine with threats of severe economic sanctions, the United States has shifted its goal from ending the conflict to prolonging it. In a speech in Poland on March 26, Biden said, “This battle will not be won in days or months either. We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead.” To Beijing, this read as an admission that the White House no longer aims to end the war but rather to prolong it in order to weaken and defeat Russia. When the following week Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to make progress toward a tentative peace plan, top U.S. officials expressed skepticism about Russia’s desire to curtail its military assault on the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv. Of the supposed progress, Biden said, “I don’t read anything into it until I see what [Russia’s] actions are.” The next day, he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the United States planned to provide Ukraine with an additional $500 million in direct budgetary aid. As Beijing sees it, Washington is scaling up military aid to Ukraine in order to deny Russia a diplomatic off ramp for troop withdrawal. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comment last week that “we want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine” has only deepened China’s conviction that the United States’ priority is to weaken Russia, not to seek a swift end to the war.

Nor does China believe that seeking common ground with Washington on the war in Ukraine will meaningfully improve broader Sino-U.S. relations. Even if Beijing were to join in the international condemnation of Russia, the United States would not soften its containment policy against China. Since the start of the war, some East Asian countries have publicly questioned whether Washington will sustain its focus on the Indo-Pacific while Europe is in crisis. In response, the Biden administration has been quick to reassure them. On March 28, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks told reporters: “Even as we confront Russia’s malignant activities, the defense strategy describes how the department will act urgently to sustain and strengthen deterrence with the PRC as our most consequential strategic competitor and pacing challenge.” The next day, Biden told Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that even though the United States is focused on Ukraine, it is “strongly supportive of moving rapidly to implement the Indo-Pacific strategy.”

Chinese leaders see no reason to believe that Washington would somehow shift these priorities even if Beijing distanced itself from Moscow. In their eyes, condemning Russia publicly and siding with those enforcing sanctions against it would only open the door for the United States to impose secondary sanctions on China itself. The United States has already threatened to punish Chinese companies that do business with Russia. On February 3, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters: “We have an array of tools that we can deploy if we see foreign companies, including those in China, doing their best to backfill U.S. export control actions, to evade them, to get around them.”

After Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, the United States dialed up the diplomatic pressure on China. In mid-March, before U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Yang Jiechi, the director of China’s Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, Sullivan told the media: “We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them.”

THE MIDDLE PATH
This is not the first time Beijing has found itself caught between major rival powers. Between 1958 and 1971, the People’s Republic of China faced the most hostile international environment in its brief history. During this period, it had to confront strategic threats from the United States and the Soviet Union simultaneously. In response, the Chinese government devoted all its economic resources to preparing for a full-scale war against one of the two powers. To better shield its industrial base from attack, it moved many factories from more developed areas in eastern China to underdeveloped and mountainous western areas, hiding them in artificial caves. This large-scale industrial reorganization plunged China into a significant economic hardship, causing severe commodity shortages and widespread poverty.

The memory of this awful history has informed China’s response to the war in Ukraine and hardened its commitment to avoid getting sandwiched between Washington and Moscow once again. Official Chinese statements have thus been finely calibrated to avoid provoking Russia. In an interview in March, for instance, Qin made clear that Beijing seeks a cooperative relationship with Moscow but does not support its war in Ukraine. “There is no forbidden zone for cooperation between China and Russia, but there is also a bottom line, which is the tenets and principles established in the UN Charter,” he said. In a press briefing on April 1, Wang Lutong, director-general of European affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry, sought to walk a similarly fine line: “We are not doing anything deliberately to circumvent the sanctions against Russia imposed by the US and the Europeans,” he said, adding that “China is not a related party to the crisis in Ukraine.”

In choosing a middle path on Ukraine, China has refrained from providing military aid to Moscow but maintained normal business relations with Russia, a decision that other countries have also made. For example, India—a strategic partner of the United States—has adopted a similar stance, drawing a clear distinction between military and economic affairs. Even some NATO countries have continued to buy Russian gas to heat homes through the winter. If the war in Ukraine drags on, more countries may start mimicking China’s balancing policy to minimize their own economic losses caused by the war.

As the world’s second-largest economic power, China intends to play an important role in shaping global economic norms. But it has no ambition to play a leading role in global security affairs, especially in matters of war, because of the huge military disparity between it and the United States. Shaping a peaceful environment favorable to China’s economic development remains an important diplomatic goal. As long as the United States does not offer military support for a Taiwanese declaration of de jure independence, China is unlikely to deviate from this path of peaceful development.


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19 Jun 2022, 1:20 am

Chinese President Xi held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the afternoon of June 15.
Beijing reports:

Quote:
The Chinese side stands ready to work with the Russian side to push for steady and long-term development of practical bilateral cooperation, Xi said.

China is willing to work with Russia to continue supporting each other on their respective core interests concerning sovereignty and security, as well as on their major concerns, deepening their strategic coordination, and strengthening communication and coordination in such important international and regional organizations as the United Nations, the BRICS mechanism and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Xi said.

China is also willing to work with Russia to promote solidarity and cooperation among emerging market countries and developing nations, and push for the development of the international order and global governance towards a more just and reasonable direction, he added.
...
He noted that Russia is ready to strengthen multilateral coordination with China so as to make constructive efforts in boosting multipolarization of the world, and establishing a more just and reasonable international order.

The two heads of state also exchanged views on the Ukraine issue. Xi emphasized that China has always independently assessed the situation on the basis of the historical context and the merits of the issue, and actively promoted world peace and the stability of the global economic order.

All parties should push for a proper settlement of the Ukraine crisis in a responsible manner, Xi said, adding that China for this purpose will continue to play its due role.

Kremlin reports:
Quote:
The presidents stated that Russian-Chinese relations were at an all-time high and are constantly improving. They reaffirmed their commitment to consistently deepen the comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction in all areas.
...
Vladimir Putin laid out his principled assessment of the situation in Ukraine and the tasks being tackled during the special military operation. The President of China noted the legitimacy of Russia’s actions to protect fundamental national interests in the face of challenges to its security created by external forces.

Are they describing the same event? :lmao:


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30 Jun 2022, 11:33 am

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Meets with Wang Yi
2022-06-08 14:48

Quote:
Tokayev said, since the establishment of Kazakhstan-China diplomatic ties 30 years ago, bilateral relations have maintained positive momentum, and close exchanges have been made between various departments at different levels. China's support and cooperation play a vital role in Kazakhstan's political security, national stability and economic development. Kazakhstan gives priority to its relations with China in its foreign policy and is committed to constantly enriching the dimensions of bilateral relations. Kazakhstan is willing to strengthen the Belt and Road cooperation, push economic and trade investment to a higher level, and expand cooperation in agriculture, transportation, logistics, energy, tourism, people-to-people exchanges and other fields, so as to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

Tokayev said that Kazakhstan and China share the same stance and common language on major international issues. Kazakhstan speaks highly of China's important influence and constructive role in international affairs and fully agrees with and supports the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. These initiatives, which are very important and timely, will be conducive to bridging the deficit in global peace, governance, trust and development. Kazakhstan also appreciates China's initiative to build four partnerships of solidarity, development, security and civilization with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and is willing to take an active part in it.
...
Both sides expressed deep concerns about the serious spillover impacts of the Ukraine crisis. Wang Yi stressed, China has played a constructive role in promoting peace talks. Under the current circumstances, the region should be on guard against attempts by forces outside the region to draw regional countries into major power conflicts and force them to take sides. China hopes that Central Asian countries will stand firm, eliminate interference, strengthen coordination, cooperate in good faith and safeguard regional peace and stability. China has never sought geopolitical interests in Central Asia, and never allows non-regional forces to stir up trouble in the region. Tokayev appreciated China's just position, and expressed the willingness to maintain close and timely communication and stay committed to the settlement of disputes through peaceful means.


Wang Yi Holds Talks with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi
2022-06-08 14:49
Quote:
The two sides agreed to continue to support each other in the international arena, strengthen coordination and collaboration in regional organizations, fully leverage the strengths of the new platform of the "China+Central Asia" (C+C5) cooperation mechanism, and work together for the success of the upcoming third C+C5 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The two sides also agreed to vigorously carry forward the Shanghai Spirit and maintain the momentum of the steady development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China supports Kazakhstan in hosting the sixth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, and will work with Kazakhstan to safeguard regional security and development, and prevent the turbulence in Europe from being replicated in the region. Kazakhstan is welcome to take an active part in BRICS Plus cooperation.

The two sides also exchanged views on the regional situation and other issues of common concern.


Wang Yi: Join Hands to Forge the Next Golden Three Decades of China-Kazakhstan Relations
2022-06-08 14:50
Quote:
First, stay committed to enhancing strategic mutual trust. The two sides will give full play to the steering role of the head-of-state diplomacy, and deepen exchanges and cooperation at all levels and among various departments. We should support each other in pursuing a development path suited to respective national conditions, step up mutual support on issues concerning each other's core interests, and take good care of and properly manage China-Kazakhstan relations to ensure sound development.
...
Fourth, stay committed to upholding international fairness and justice. We should spare no efforts to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and oppose unilateralism and bullying acts.

If required:
In February of this year (2022), Kazakhstan experienced some...important changes.
And as a member of the former Soviet Union bordering Russia, Kazakhstan also has some Nazi against Russians existence and disputed territories to be explored.

President Xi Jinping Delivered a Keynote Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum
2022-06-22 19:57
Quote:
First, we should embrace solidarity and coordination and jointly maintain world peace and stability. The tragedies of the past tell us that hegemony, group politics and bloc confrontation bring no peace or security; they only lead to wars and conflicts. Blind faith in the so-called “position of strength” and attempts to expand military alliances and seek one’s own security at the expense of others will only land oneself in a security dilemma. Only when we all cherish and uphold peace and never forget the painful lessons of war can there be hope of peace. We should stay true to the pledge of the UN Charter and fulfill the mission of maintaining peace. Not long ago, I put forward the Global Security Initiative, calling on all countries to stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; and stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains. We in the international community should reject zero-sum games and jointly oppose hegemonism and power politics. We should build a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation. We should be clear that we are a community in which all countries share a common stake, and we should see that the light of peace will reach all corners of the world.


The 14th BRICS Summit Is Held President Xi Jinping Chairs the Summit and Delivers Important Remarks
2022-06-24 08:31
Quote:
First, we need to uphold solidarity and safeguard world peace and tranquility. Some countries attempt to expand military alliances to seek absolute security, stoke bloc-based confrontation by coercing other countries into picking sides, and pursue unilateral dominance at the expense of others’ rights and interests. If such dangerous trends are allowed to continue, the world will witness even more turbulence and insecurity. It is important that BRICS countries support each other on issues concerning core interests, practice true multilateralism, safeguard justice, fairness and solidarity and reject hegemony, bullying and division. China would like to work with BRICS partners to operationalize the Global Security Initiative (GSI), advocate a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, create a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum, and bring more stability and positive energy to the world.

"Some countries" :lmao:
BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
Who was China talking to? :lol:


It's June 30th. In a week, it seems that no professional Western international political analysts have noticed this...or pretend not to notice.
This inference is much more reliable than the "possible invasion of Taiwan in the near future".
If I send an email to the BBC or other media stating that Xi has prevented a "special military operation", will it be reported? I decided not to waste my time writing this email. :wink:


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magz
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30 Jun 2022, 12:38 pm

I genuinely believe China does not want that war and would love it undone and cancelled as soon as possible, probably regardless of the result - any peace would do to them.

However, from my East European perspective, blaming hegemony, unilateralism, bullying etc. as the cause of NATO expansion is completely wrong. NATO expands because Europeans fear someone - most likely Russia - would attack them. That's why Finland and Sweden have just applied. No one pushes for it - nations pull to join the alliance to seek their own security.
Is it "seeking security at others' expense"? I wouldn't say so. Who suffers on the fact that Finland is joining NATO? Russia? Only if they tried to attack.
He also may mean Russia is "seeking security at others' expense".
How did it go? 1+1!=2, right? ;)


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30 Jun 2022, 12:44 pm

magz wrote:
Is it "seeking security at others' expense"? I wouldn't say so. Who suffers on the fact that Finland is joining NATO? Russia? Only if they tried to attack.
He also may mean Russia is "seeking security at others' expense".
How did it go? 1+1!=2, right? ;)

I think he is mainly blaming Putin, but he doesn't want to be so straightforward. After all, it was a meeting between five people.
It is very common in formal occasions in China to use "some people" to refer to an object of criticism who is not convenient to be named directly but be present.

China may be the third country in the world that cares about Kazakhstan's security issues(apart from Kazakhstan itself and the possible attacker), otherwise there will be no such cooperation.


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magz
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30 Jun 2022, 1:19 pm

I think China may be interested in peaceful means of establishing influence in Kazakhstan - and Kazakhstan may be interested in an ally more predictable than Russia.
This mutual interest can be genuine.


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30 Jun 2022, 1:26 pm

Kazakhstan has cultural and blood ties with Xinjiang, and has a long border with Xinjiang.
There are a large number of Kazakh people living in Xinjiang for generations. The terrorists were not only from Uighurs, but also from Kazaks.
Due to the geographical environment, that section is actually the most easily illegally crossed border in Xinjiang, rather than the more conservative southern Xinjiang.

Kazakhstan is also the trunk road of the the Belt and Road.

A peaceful and stable Kazakhstan has many core interests with China.


and... China will not be interested in possible requests for refugees. This is one of the motives to keep North Korea from collapsing.


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30 Jun 2022, 2:42 pm

So, China and Kazakhstan may have mutual interest in stabilizing Xinjiang. Makes sense.
And a war in Europe is bad enough for China but a war in Central Asia bordering Xinjiang would be a whole new level of problems. If Russia (or Al-Kaida, or anyone) attacked Kazakhstan, unrest would really easily spill to China.

SkinnedWolf wrote:
and... China will not be interested in possible requests for refugees. This is one of the motives to keep North Korea from collapsing.
I thought China is not enthusiastic about too strong united Korea and possibly unstable intermediate states.


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03 Sep 2022, 1:04 pm

2/4/2022
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said in an interview with the media that there is no ceiling on Sino Russian relations.

6/14/2022
Le Yucheng was removed from the post of Vice Foreign Minister and appointed deputy director of the State Administration of radio and television.


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03 Sep 2022, 1:57 pm

magz wrote:
So, China and Kazakhstan may have mutual interest in stabilizing Xinjiang. Makes sense.
And a war in Europe is bad enough for China but a war in Central Asia bordering Xinjiang would be a whole new level of problems. If Russia (or Al-Kaida, or anyone) attacked Kazakhstan, unrest would really easily spill to China.
SkinnedWolf wrote:
and... China will not be interested in possible requests for refugees. This is one of the motives to keep North Korea from collapsing.
I thought China is not enthusiastic about too strong united Korea and possibly unstable intermediate states.


There are no "intermediate states". China and North Korea border each other.

If somehow the Nork regime disappeared, and North Korea became unified and absorbed into South Korea, then yes...China would suddenly border one big, unified capitalist democratic pro western Korea. But economically that would be a plus for China. What China would 'fear' would not be Seoul ruling the north, but would be the US troops now based in South Korea also being placed north to bases in what is now North Korea near China.

Except I think that that is a hallow fear. No US POTUS wants to breath down China's throat anymore than China wants it. We would easily agree to not move our military north of the 38th Parallel.



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03 Sep 2022, 4:23 pm

But yes...its in China's interest to make nice with Kazakhstan Republic- so China's Xinjaing region stays peaceful.

China is now an ally of the Taliban now that the US pulled out of Afghanistan, and for their part the Taliban pledged not to spread Jihadist propaganda into the Muslim Uigher region of Xinjaing. Trouble is that the Taliban is now fighting against its own insurgency by ISIS. So if the Taliban gets toppled by ISIS then a new Islamist regime in Kabul might ditch that pledge, and might fan the flames of ethnic rebellion in northeast China.

So...maybe China might get bogged down in its own quagmire war to prop up its Taliban allies in Afghanistan against ISIS. Well...I can dream about it. :D



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04 Sep 2022, 3:41 am

naturalplastic wrote:
So...maybe China might get bogged down in its own quagmire war to prop up its Taliban allies in Afghanistan against ISIS. Well...I can dream about it. :D

Another one for the Graveyard of Empires?


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04 Sep 2022, 6:14 am

Exactly!



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06 Sep 2022, 5:12 am

magz wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
So...maybe China might get bogged down in its own quagmire war to prop up its Taliban allies in Afghanistan against ISIS. Well...I can dream about it. :D

Another one for the Graveyard of Empires?

I don't think so.

The last war of the PRC (or, in jargon, the first Republic) before reform and opening up was Sino-Vietnamese War, which was used to punish socialist Vietnam, which supported by SU, for its interference in Khmer Rouge Cambodia, which supported by PRC, US and NATO. This is part of the cold war.

After the reform and opening-up (in jargon, the Second Republic), China's pattern of behavior was to support the current government that could be used for trade, and sometimes to help suppress the opposition.
Take Myanmar as an example. When Aung San Suu Kyi was in office, China maintained close contacts and conducted trade with her government. After the junta coup, China and the junta also maintained close contacts and conducted trade.
The latter has caused a lot of trouble, including unchecked organized crime that is chaotic on the border. China's approach is only to strengthen border control and safety education for its citizens, and sending armed police to crack down on cross-border drug trafficking gangs and rescue kidnapped Chinese citizens, but it has not planned any action aimed at overthrowing the military government itself.

If there is an ISIS Afghanistan, China's approach will be to strengthen border blockade and support possible international intervention. But it is very unlikely that they will take the initiative to subvert their government.


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06 Sep 2022, 5:27 am

Things can get pretty upside down nowadays when it comes to "the last time" something happened. The history has visibly speeded up again and simple extrapolation won't work.

Afghanistan is... rather unpredictable. Who was the Russian embassy suicide bomber and why? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62764222


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06 Sep 2022, 5:51 am

The Second Republic pursues the diplomatic principle of "Non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries" - at least they must on the surface.

In the Sri Lankan civil war, they sold arms to government forces for profit.
Targeted attacks on Chinese nationals in Solomon Islands during riots there. China's approach has been to provide police supplies and dispatch police advisory teams to the Solomon Islands.

PRC is not interested in getting involved in any conflict, but only in its potential business opportunities. If it involves a large number of local Chinese citizens becoming victims, PRC will have a small but insignificant input - or even just as an excuse to strengthen the military presence of the target.

When the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia was bombed by NATO, China only "strongly condemned".


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With the help of translation software.

Cover your eyes, if you like. It will serve no purpose.

You might expect to be able to crush them in your hand, into wolf-bone fragments.
Dance with me, funeralxempire. Into night's circle we fly, until the fire enjoys us.