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A tussle over a new gas pipeline deal exposed the power imbalance between Xi and Putin.
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Putin depends on the pipeline amid international sanctions.
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But China has also staked a lot on Russia’s victory in Ukraine.
At the Shangri-La conference in Singapore on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused China of following Russia’s orders in its attempt to disrupt a peace conference scheduled for June.
“Unfortunately, this is a shame that such a large, independent, powerful country like China is a tool in the hands of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.” said Zelenskyy of China, whose economy is much larger than that of Russia.
Zelensky’s comments highlight the increasing interdependence between China and Russia in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
But the relationship is lopsided. Rather than simply doing what Putin wants, Russia has so far been largely in the hands of Xi Jinping.
In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly isolated on the world stage, and China has stepped in, providing crucial economic, diplomatic and economic support. (according to the US) military support in the form of dual-use components for the Russian military industry.
The Financial Times reported this on Monday contains important new details about the underlying power dynamics of the relationship, arguing that the reason a huge deal for a new gas pipeline between Russia and China has stalled is because China is taking a hard bargain.
Sources told the FT that China would only commit to the deal if it got the gas at the same heavily subsidized rates it sells for in Russia and accepted a small share of the pipeline’s 50 billion cubic meters of annual production .
It is bad news for Russian President Putin, as the Russian gas industry has been hit hard by sanctions and is becoming increasingly dependent on exports to non-Western countries, especially China.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has taken advantage of the power imbalance in the relationship between China and Russia. He mediated influence in the Central Asian republicswhich were traditionally part of the Russian sphere of influence, and found in Russia a huge new market for Chinese exports such as vehicles.
But Xi is also becoming increasingly dependent on his use of a Russian victory in Ukraine will be fine.
And he is still keen to help the Russian leader, with the FT reporting that boycotting the peace conference was one of the requests Putin made to Xi when the leaders met in May.
China is in the throes of a severe economic downturn and its support for Russia is endangering ties with the wealthy Western economies on which its key businesses depend.
If Xi emerges from the war in Ukraine with nothing to show for it, his credibility and attempt to assert China as the world’s leading power will be seriously damaged.
And that’s probably enough to ensure that China will continue to do favors for Russia.
Read the original article Business insider
