Beijing makes a cryptic remark a week after Russia supposedly busts a Chinese spy ring, while Sino-Russia tensions brew over Kazakhstan’s CPC crude oil flows.
Shanghai’s COVID outbreak, U.S. trade enticements, and Russia’s sanctions on Kazakh oil (again) weigh on Beijing’s willingness to defy Western sanctions, while Russia publicized the arrest of a Chinese spy ring in Novosibirsk.
Chinese state media attempts to weaken Western sanctions resolve, while NATO’s Strategic Concept slams the Sino-Russia strategic partnership.
At the SPIEF, Xi Jinping issued some rather generic calls for economic cooperation, while adhering to Beijing’s uneasy position of neutrality on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a virtual keynote speech to the group, Chinese leader Xi Jinping hit out at sanctions for “weaponizing” the global economy, while shoring up Beijing’s awkward position of neutrality on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a bilateral phone call, which ended with two different takeaways over the war on Ukraine.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned of “major power conflicts” in Central Asia, and hinted at a greater role in the region as China eyes rail connections with Europe.
Beijing barred Russia’s foreign-owned planes from flying into its airspace after Moscow appropriated the jets in February. But Moscow and Beijing also held an official conference on their close bilateral relationship.
China withdrew (at least for now) from an important Russian liquefied natural gas project, even as the two sides conducted joint strategic bomber patrols near Japan amid Joe Biden’s visit and the Quad summit.