That would not disappoint me at all. Unfortunately I am concerned they may not fall flat on their faces.
Just a note that this is not the Ukraine thread, it's one on China. There is an overlap of course, which I was referring to, but all subsequent comments have been about the war in Ukraine, which is not the topic of this thread. My point was that China's general peace programme (which goes well beyond Ukraine, that is just one manifestation of it) is not only being embraced by countries in the Middle East and Russia, it is now being supported (however cautiously) by a major NATO power. This is a major step along the rise in China's diplomatic standing in the world, which I am highlighting in this thread.
I want to believe the West has the spine for this, but I really don't think they do. If America alone were willing it would be greatly impactful, but the American people are too used to the kind of lives that require the massive amounts of cheap resources from China to keep flowing.The only complication being that the West will close their markets to China if China overtly supports Russia's imperial war against Ukraine.
I want to believe the West has the spine for this, but I really don't think they do. If America alone were willing it would be greatly impactful, but the American people are too used to the kind of lives that require the massive amounts of cheap resources from China to keep flowing.
EU still has no spine. They still expect US Army to do heavy lifting, like scarring other countries into sanctions.Given that the Europeans have found their spines with Russia it's not a far stretch to conclude that if China is arming Russia the Europeans will object.
I would be wise to consider idea of "Russia as junior partner" as psyops.
Do you in matter of geopolitics ever try to look for any evidence against your beliefs?In 2022 China's GDP was over $18 trillion dollars. Russia's was $2.2 trillion dollars.
Russia is the junior partner in any Russia-China deal. That's just the way it is.
Given that the Europeans have found their spines with Russia
I think it's hard to get past the fact that in everything other than nukes, China is more powerful than Russia (both economically and conventional militarily). It is to be expected that any deal between the two would be as lopsided as any deal between the USA and its smaller allies, and for the same reason.
But to use that practical fact to ridicule the deal or mock Russia would be as foolish as mocking France for being smaller than the USA. It's not a criticism. It's just a fact.
Historically Russia has always been very concerned about threats from the East, a concern that has lingered ever since the Mongol invasion. China and Japan have both been serious concerns, and wars have been fought as a result. Sure Russia has many resources - but resources themselves are not power, they are something that must be defended. The resources just heighten the fear that the chinese hordes could take them. Their alliance at present is a geopolitical necessity, but not a comfortable one. Russia will have many concerns underneath the diplomatic niceities.
We are too much focused on big three: Russia, China and USA. What about Brasil, Argetina, India, Turkey, Indonesia?All of which means nothing in the current crisis. Its the globohomo empire trying to destroy Russia, not China. The two of them appear to be trying to forge a new international order along multilateral lines and mutual respect for sovereignty.