German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul sharply criticized China for providing essential support to Russia’s war against Ukraine, as reported by Politico on August 18.
His remarks came ahead of a high-stakes meeting between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other European leaders to address Moscow’s war on Kyiv.
“Russia’s war is made possible by crucial Chinese support,” Wadephul said in a speech at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo during his visit to Japan, according to Politico.
“80 percent of the dual-use goods that Russia uses come from China,” he added. “And at the same time, China is the largest buyer of Russian oil and gas. And this is a development that of course not only runs massively counter to our European security interests, but also those of our partners in the Indo-Pacific.”
Wadephul argued that Beijing’s actions “show that China preaches the principles of non-interference and territorial integrity, but in reality undermines them.”
He also pointed to North Korea’s role in supplying Russia with ammunition and troops—support that, he said, would not be possible without China’s approval.
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I’m convinced china’s long term goal is to pit Europe VS Russia and make USA weary of foreign interventions and support, giving China more leeway when it comes to Taiwan
According to John Mearsheimer there is three focal points for US global interests.
Eastern Europe, because there is the NATO-Russia faultline.
The Persian gulf/Middle East, because there is the biggest Oil and Gas production. South East Asia, because there is China as the biggest geopolitical challenger.The US wants to “Pivot to China” since quite a while and contain China militarily inside the island chains.
So for China the strategy is quite simple. Bog down the US in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East. That is why China doesn’t want Russia to loose in Ukraine, but also not want it to win. Russia invading Ukraine is a double win for China. It is keeping the US and NATO busy there, but also weakening Russia, making it more dependent on China and less of a military threat to China.
Israel going rampage in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran is also good for China as it is keeping the US there, after they tried to pull out. This is why China also wants to support Iran in particular, because it is the last state not aligned with the US in the region.In that sense Russia and Israel are helping China in its strategy more than anything China could have mounted on their own.
Two things:
Russias action in Europe make Europe invest a lot more in its military. If there is a conflict in Asia, I am fairly confident that European countries will be very willing to sell weapons to the US and its allies, if not give them for free. More factories and stocks will cause a massive problem for China down the line.
As for Israel, I somewhat disagree. Israel striking Hezbollah ended up with them being unable to support Assad in Syria, which resulted in a Turkish supported Syrian government. I do not thing they are the best friends of the US, but relations are better then they were with Assad. It also has the potential of moving Lebanon closer to the US. The Christians are somewhat western aligned anyway and the Sunnis have contacts with the Gulf states. The Israeli strikes on Iran destroyed a lot of Iranian air defence. That means future US strikes are easier.
However the genocide obviously means that Arab countries are much less likely to work with Israel now. So that is a huge problem for the US. The best play would be to pressure Israel into recognizing Palastine and agree to the Arab League plan to replace Hamas in Gaza with Arab League troops.
The US wants to “Pivot to China” since quite a while and contain China militarily inside the island chains.
See:”Pivot to China”
Yeah he could acknowledge the other side of this, too, that China is essential for the production of Ukrainian drones.
Has he forgotten that before the war, eu was the largest importer of russian oil and gas, the title is misleading, what it should say is ‘eu made russia’s war on ukraine possible’