«For China, the Russia-Ukraine war has served as a real-world testing ground for assessing the effectiveness of sanctions, the military endurance of Western states, and the capacity of the U.S. and its allies to sustain long-term support.»

Nataliya Butyrska, Associated Senior Fellow of the New Europe Center, explores China’s strategic role in supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine while maintaining a façade of neutrality. The Prospect Foundation, Taiwan-based think tank, published her analysis.

“For Beijing, support for Russia has become a profitable investment. Moscow’s actions have severely undermined the foundations of international law and the rules-based order. Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to drain Western resources, while the return of Donald Trump to power in the United States has exacerbated transatlantic divisions, further weakening American global leadership and creating new opportunities for Beijing to expand its influence”, the expert explains in her article.

“In effect, China has become one of the key beneficiaries of Putin’s war. Still, growing tensions with the West over support for Russia — particularly among European countries — and the looming threat of secondary sanctions have compelled Beijing to pursue a dual-track strategy. On the one hand, it opposes “unilateral” sanctions not endorsed by the UN Security Council and defends the right to conduct “normal exchanges” and bilateral cooperation with Moscow. On the other, it distances itself from Russia’s actions, hiding behind the mask of non-involvement and a simulated commitment to the “political resolution of the crisis in Ukraine”, Nataliya Butyrska stresses in analysis.

Read the full analysis at the link here.