Take the China/Russia No Boundaries with A Grain of Salt

Li Daokui, a former counselor to China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, said we should take the so-called “no boundaries” collaboration between the two countries as “situational” and should treat it “with a grain of salt.”

Before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Beijing and Moscow established a “no boundaries” strategic collaboration to challenge American dominance. In a joint statement, both nations declared there were no “forbidden sectors” of collaboration. Still, they didn’t name Ukraine, despite Russian forces amassing up on the Ukrainian border at the time. On Wednesday, Li, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of economics at Tsinghua University, said “Squawk Box Asia” that he believes China would not back Russia militarily.

China’s Stand on Russian Invasion

China’s official policy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has been to blame the crisis on NATO’s eastward expansion. So yet, the Chinese government has declined to denounce Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor properly. It contrasts sharply with much of the developed world. Several nations have imposed unprecedented penalties on Russian corporations, institutions, and individuals, putting Moscow on notice for its unprovoked invasion. The Russian economy should enter a serious recession this year, with the Institute of International Finance forecasting a 15% contraction due to the conflict.

Meanwhile, Li predicted that Beijing would be “extremely aggressive” in pressuring Russia and Ukraine to “come to a rapid resolution.”

“Keep in mind that, before this crisis, both Russia and Ukraine were strong allies with China,” he remarked.

Beijing has consistently stated its desire to reunite with Taiwan; a democratically self-governing island off the coast of mainland China that the People’s Republic of China claims.

“The vast majority of nations in the world do not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state,” Li noted. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only 14 nations are classified as the island’s diplomatic allies. On the other hand, Ukraine has been mainly acknowledged as a sovereign state, according to him.

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