Before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Beijing and Moscow announced a strategic partnership “without limits” that they said was intended to counter US influence. In a joint statement, both countries said there were no “no-go zones” for co-operation, but did not mention Ukraine, although Russian troops were piling up on the Ukrainian border at the time. “I choose to believe that China will not support Russia militarily,” Li, currently a professor of economics at Mansfield Freeman University at Tsinghua University, told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Wednesday. “[The] no boundary relation should be read with a little salt “. “However, China will continue to trade with Russia on humanitarian grounds. That is, to help the Russian people cope with this very difficult period,” he said. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Beijing’s official stance has been to blame the conflict on NATO’s eastward expansion. Chinese authorities have so far refused to fully condemn Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor. It is in stark contrast to much of the developed world, where many countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russian companies, banks and individuals who have left Moscow with serious consequences for its unprovoked invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo during their meeting in Beijing on February 4, 2022. The two countries announced a “borderless” cooperation before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although Beijing has tried to position itself further away from Russia than appears after the meeting between Xi and Putin. Alexei Druzhinin | AFP | Getty Images The Russian economy is expected to fall into a deep recession this year, with the Institute of International Economics predicting a shrinkage of up to 15% as a result of the war. Li predicted that Beijing, meanwhile, would be “very proactive” by pushing both Russia and Ukraine to “come to a speedy agreement.” “Let us keep in mind: both Russia and Ukraine were good friends with China before this conflict,” he said. “People tend to forget – Ukraine is a really wonderful, wonderful friend of China, apart from Russia.”
Taiwan: A “fundamentally different” issue
On the issue of Taiwan, Li said the issue was “completely different in nature” compared to Ukraine, an attitude that echoes Beijing’s sentiment. Beijing has repeatedly stated its intention to reunite with Taiwan, an island off the coast of mainland China that is democratically self-governing but claimed by the People’s Republic of China. “The vast majority of nations in the world do not recognize Taiwan as an independent country,” Li said. Globally, only 14 countries are listed as Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, according to the island’s foreign ministry. Ukraine, on the other hand, has been largely recognized as an independent country, he said. “What [Russia] “Any war or special military operation against Ukraine is a violation of the recognition of many other nations,” Li said. The Taiwan issue, on the other hand, is recognized by most countries in the world as an “internal issue of Chinese politics.” “This is fundamentally different,” he said. – CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
