Recently the New York Times carried a report that in the past three months, senior Biden administration officials conducted over six meetings with the leading figures in the Chinese Government. During these meetings, US officials presented intelligence showing Russia’s troop buildup around Ukraine and purportedly “beseeched” China to ask Russia not to invade Ukraine.”
The report also states that Chinese officials such as their
foreign minister and the ambassador to the US, who were part of the meeting,
vehemently rejected claims that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent.
In December, U.S. officials received intelligence that the
Chinese Government had shared the information provided by the US with Russia
with a claim that the US was attempting to cause a rift between Russia and
China. China even pledged not to hinder any Russian plans and subsequent actions in Ukraine.
It was also said that President Putin had an agreement with
President Xi not to initiate any military action during the Winter Olympics in
China. That report sounds valid because the Olympics ended on 20th February
and Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the morning of 24th February.
Following Putin ordering troops into eastern Ukraine, Hua
Chunying, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, at a news conference in
Beijing said that the US was “the culprit of current tensions surrounding
Ukraine.”
“On the Ukraine issue, recently the U.S. has been sending
weapons to Ukraine, heightening tensions, creating panic and even hyping up the
possibility of warfare. If someone keeps pouring oil on the flame while
accusing others of not doing their best to put out the fire, such kind of
behavior is clearly irresponsible and immoral.”
When the U.S. drove five waves of NATO expansion eastward all
the way to Russia’s doorstep and deployed advanced offensive strategic weapons
in breach of its assurances to Russia, did it ever think about the consequences
of pushing a big country to the wall?”
She also refused to characterize Russia’s military operation
against Ukraine as an “invasion” when pressed by journalists.
Hua’s tirade is consistent with the joint statement that
China and Russia issued on February 4 when President Xi and President Putin met
at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
In that statement, the two leaders said that their respective
countries' partnership had “no limit” and that they intended to stand together
against American-led democratic nations. China also sided with Russia to
condemn what they called the expansion of NATO.
According
to Chinese state media, Putin, during a call after Russia began
its military operations against Ukraine, told Xi that the US and NATO had
ignored Russia’s ‘legitimate’ security concerns and had gone back on their
commitments. President Xi reiterated China’s public position that it was
important to respect the “legitimate security concerns” as well as the “sovereignty
and territorial integrity” of all countries. Putin also expressed Russia's
willingness to have high-level negotiations with Ukraine.
Once again, one cannot help feeling rather baffled at the
doings of the Biden administration.
It is common knowledge that Russia is China’s slightly junior partner
and both nations have strong diplomatic, economic, and even military ties.
Experts have claimed that the ties between China and Russia appear stronger
than since the Cold War.
Both nations and their respective leaders see themselves as
ideological and economic challengers of what they think is the hegemony of the
West which they see as the United States along with their European and Asian
allies.
China and Russia recently signed a huge energy pact this would enable Russia to survive
despite potential sanctions from the US and NATO. It has to be remembered that
back in 2014, China also helped Russia survive sanctions after Russia annexed Crimea.
Also strengthening their bond is that Putin’s attitude towards
Ukraine is identical to Xi’s attitude toward Taiwan. They refuse to accept the
sovereignty and independent identities of their respective neighboring nations
This history is available in the public domain
The US State Department’s website says that the Chinese communist party “ is waging a targeted campaign against Uyghur women, men, and children, and members of other Turkic Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang,”. Also “human rights abuses include coercive population control methods, forced labor, arbitrary detention in internment camps, torture, physical and sexual abuse, mass surveillance, family separation, and repression of cultural and religious expression” is rampant in China.
Yet we hardly hear much condemnation from US government
officials.
China’s alliance with Russia and their poor record of Human
rights and Freedom makes them an obviously unreliable and trustworthy ally.
Why then would Biden officials with their vast diplomatic experience and education even entertain the idea of sharing intelligence regarding Russia’s plans of an invasion with China and not expect the Chinese to relay it with the Russians?
When Biden began his tenure, he first shut down the Keystone Pipeline. He lifted sanctions from Nord Stream 2 in May 2021. This has made the EU more dependent on Russia for their energy which is a key factor that probably emboldens them to take military action against Ukraine.
While announcing sanctions, Biden made it clear that the US
was not going to engage in any military action with Russia. The principle of not sending boots on the ground is
correct. The question remains was there any need to state that explicitly? At
times remarks such as ‘all options are on the table’ or not being explicit about counter actions can serve as a powerful
deterrent.
The question remains are Biden officials ignorant or
incompetent or compromised?
The answer is probably a bit of each.
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