Will China Stay Quiet on Ukraine?

Will China Stay Quiet on Ukraine?

China’s goal is driven by national interest and politically motivated by Xi Jinping’s own personal ambition.

Undoubtedly, China’s goal is driven by national interest and politically motivated by Xi’s own personal ambition. The Communist Party of China will convene the twentieth National Party Congress in the second half of 2022 to embark on “a new journey toward realizing the second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country.” This goal aligns with the Russia-China statement on pushing forward an authoritarian vision for a future global order. Nonetheless, despite their camaraderie, Russia and China consider each other as rivals, too. Hence, a significantly stronger Russia in Eurasia or a prolonged crisis in Ukraine does not bode well for Xi’s plans for the region, especially via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), though Beijing can certainly tolerate a more “limited Russian excursion into Ukraine.”

Dr. Jagannath Panda is the (Incoming) Head of the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Sweden. Dr. Panda is also the Director for Europe-Asia Research Cooperation at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS); and an International Research Fellow at The Cannon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS), Japan. He is a former fellow (2006-2022) at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.

Image: Reuters.