Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat that China does not want Russia to lose in Ukraine, because the US could shift its focus to countering Beijing.
Wang made the comment while meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on July 2 at the 13th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, the South China Morning Post and CNN reported.
Although contrary to China’s claim of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such a frank remark suggests Beijing might prefer a protracted war to keep the US from focusing on its rivalry with China.
A report by the Coalition Defense of Taiwan said that a Russian defeat in Ukraine would weaken Moscow, one of China’s most important partners, and allow the West to focus on building alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, creating a poor scenario for China.
Although the international community has raised concerns that the increasing disparity between the US and its allies over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs could give China a chance to consolidate its international dominance, recent geopolitical developments could be a rude awakening for Beijing.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at a February defense summit in Brussels said that European countries should take responsibility for safeguarding European security and aiding Ukraine, while the US would prioritize China’s threats in the Indo-Pacific region. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May, he reassured Asian allies that Washington would refocus its defense to work with the region to confront Chinese expansionism, particularly its aggression toward Taiwan and attempts to change the “status quo” in Asia.
In addition to increased joint military drills and deployments in Asia, the US has urged its Asian allies to step up their defense spending and efforts related to collective defense against China, taking the example of the EU consensus for higher defense spending.
According to the Financial Times, the Pentagon has also asked Japan and Australia to further clarify their stances in a possible conflict over Taiwan, aiming to ensure a united front in the region.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a visit to China on Tuesday said that he had reaffirmed to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) Canberra’s consistent stance opposing any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait. He also objected to China’s naval exercises off the Australian coast, which are widely regarded as a display of Beijing’s ambitious regional expansion.
Japan on Tuesday released its latest annual defense white paper, which highlighted China as Tokyo’s biggest strategic challenge, and Beijing’s growing joint operations with Russia and North Korea as a serious threat to Asia and the world. Following proposals by the Japanese defense minister to link East Asia, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula as a “single theater of battle,” the report suggested that Japan work with the US and like-minded Asian allies to play a greater role in safeguarding regional peace.
The Philippines is also expanding military cooperation with the US, Japan and European democracies, as well as ramping up engagements with Taiwan to counter China. Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr in a Washington Post interview published on Monday said that China’s expansionism has been a matter of extreme concern in Asia, and endorsed Japan’s proposal to view Asia as a single theater of battle that should be jointly defended.
Whether the US could force a ceasefire in Ukraine and the Middle East, China should face the fact that its expansionism has driven the US and Asian countries to bolster their defensive alliances in the region, probably the last thing Beijing wants to see.
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