When 69-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with 45-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky April 26, hope sprang for a possible settlement to the 15-month old Ukraine War. But soon after their talks, doubters in Kiev characterized the call as biased toward Russia. China proposed a peace plan Feb. 24 on the anniversary of the conflict, where both parties would sit down at a neutral setting and negotiate a permanent settlement. Zelensky was careful not to publicly reject China’s plan but clearly there was no interest in Kiev or Washington, where 80-year-old President Joe Biden directs a proxy war using Ukrainian troops against the Kremlin. Xi is acutely aware of Biden’s proxy war against the Russian Federation, seeing the sane thing happening in the Indo-Pacific region. Zelensky sees China as siding with the Russian Federation.
European officials, looking to see the Ukraine War end, welcomed China’s peace plan and call with Zelensky. “They are taking baby steps,” said an unnamed EU official on China. “They will move step by step in the right direction, adjusting to the situation on the ground,” referring to progress on the Ukraine War. EU is split with Poland and Baltic State EU members seeking to continue the war while others, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, want a swift end to the war through neutral peace talks. Macron has taken an unpopular stand seeking to maintain relations with Moscow, while, at the the same time, encouraging both sides to settle the conflict. Zelensky insists on certain conditions, demanding Russia leave every inch of Ukraine’s sovereign territory before any peace process can begin. Russian troops were in Ukraine before the war and no doubt stay after the war.
Zelensky’s tough stance, resulting in the destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure and loss of some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, has caused unnecessary harm to Ukraine and its people. Shortly after the Feb. 24, 2023 invasion, before 8.1 million were forced out of Ukraine, 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Zelensky to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhnask an accept Crimea as Russian sovereign territory. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer and went to war against the Kremlin, serving as a proxy force for the United States. China understands the U.S. role in the Ukraine War and doesn’t want the same thing happening in the Pacific Rim. Biden served notice on China Sept. 23, 2022 that he would commit U.S. troops to fight China if they tried to take over Taiwan. Biden violated the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, requiring the U.S. to end its mutual defense treaty with Taiwan.
When it comes to Ukraine, its really quite simple what China wants. They want the U.S. to stop encroaching in Eastern Europe and in the Indo-Pacific region. Biden and his 60-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been lining up a coalition against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Biden and Blinken hoped that Japan and the Philippines would join his anti-Beijing coalition, only to find out May 5 that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Biden that his bases cannot be used to wage war against China over Taiwan. Macros sent a clear message to Washington that they don’t want to get embroiled in a U.S. conflict with China. Marcos doesn’t like China’s aggression in the South China Sea but wants no part of any conflict with Communist China. Biden doesn’t get that most EU countries feel the same way about entering military conflict with Moscow.
Biden’s foreign policy has started a war with the Kremlin and pushes for military confrontation with China. Whatever happens in Europe, Brussels wants no part of any war with China, largely from strong economic ties with some of Europe’s biggest corporations. “I believe the excitement has less to do with a Chinese change of heart and more a function of Europeans’ wish to have been handed a justification for keeping business as usual with Beijing,” said an anonymous EU official. Biden has asked Brussels to rock-the-boat with Moscow, taking a strong stand against Putin for invading Ukraine. But no one in Brussels expected Biden to actually fund a proxy war against the Russian Federation. Macron has spearheaded a political solution for the warring parties, looking to end the conflict before it spirals out-of-control. EU officials want no part of Biden’s provocations to Beijing.
Biden’s proxy war in Russia and threats of military intervention in Taiwan has pushed Russia and Beijing into a close economic and military alliance. “The reality is that China has significant geopolitical reasons for sticking with Russia, and they will continue to shape its approach,” said the EU official. Xi sees a parallel in Europe where Biden has exploited NATO to take an aggressive stance against Moscow in the Ukraine War. Xi watches Biden trying to form an anti-Beijing coalition in the Pacific Rim, capitalizing on frustration with China’s militarization of the South China Sea. Xi emphatically claims Taiwan as part of Mainland China. Whether he tries to take Taiwan by force is anyone’s guess. EU officials want no part in Biden’s plan to defend Taiwan at the expense of the EU’s business ties with Beijing. Biden’s belligerence rhetoric has pushed Russia and China into a defensive alliance.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in global and national news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma .
