Beijing may be interested in the continuation of russia’s war against Ukraine — political analyst Ihor Chalenko
China may currently be interested in the continuation of the russian-Ukrainian war as an instrument of geopolitical pressure on the United States; however, in the long term, it is more beneficial for Beijing to contribute to ending the conflict. This opinion was expressed in a comment to OstroV by political analyst and head of the Center for Analysis and Strategies, Ihor Chalenko.
According to the expert, for China the war against Ukraine is part of a broader geopolitical confrontation.
“China is to a certain extent interested in the continuation of the war if we speak about the weakening of russia. After all, a weakened russian federation is easier to keep within its own sphere of influence and control”, - Ihor Chalenko noted.
He also believes that Beijing may be interested in maintaining pressure on the United States simultaneously in several regions of the world.
“When there is a risk of a potential russian attack on a certain EU or NATO country, the United States is forced to take into account its allied obligations within the Alliance. At the same time, we see how China is intensifying the Taiwan issue. And this kind of geopolitical ‘stretching’ between several crises is exactly what China is trying to maintain”, - the political analyst explained.
At the same time, according to Ihor Chalenko, in the strategic perspective a de-escalation scenario appears more beneficial for China.
“The European market remains one of the wealthiest in the world. Any prolonged war negatively affects global prices for energy resources, food, and global economic processes”, - he said.
The expert recalled that China significantly depends on food imports.
“China imports about 207 billion dollars worth of food products. We are talking about a country with a population of 1.4 billion people that must be provided with resources”, - Ihor Chalenko noted.
At the same time, according to his assessment, Beijing currently continues to use russia as an element of a broader geopolitical strategy.
“As of today, it is obvious that China continues to bet on keeping the United States in a state of constant geopolitical tension and uses the russian federation as one of the instruments of this strategy”, - the expert concluded.