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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas on July 3 that the country cannot afford for Russia to lose the war in Ukraine amid fears the U.S. would shift focus towards Beijing, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing sources familiar with the conversation.

As the war in Ukraine drags on, Wang’s reported comments suggest that Russia’s war in Ukraine may serve China’s strategic needs as focus is deviated away from Beijing’s mounting preparation to launch its own possible invasion into Taiwan.

[…]

China has been a key ally to Russia during its full-scale war, helping Moscow evade Western sanctions and becoming the leading source of dual-use goods fueling the Russian defense industry.

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The frankness of Wang’s reported admission was greeted with surprise by EU official, according to Hong Kong-based SCMP, amid China’s past public statements in favor of a peace deal. Two sources familiar with the meeting told SCMP that they believed Wang was providing Kallas with a lesson in realpolitik during the four-hour encounter.

Wang on July 3 again reportedly rejected Western accusations that it was providing funding and weaponry to support Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly accused Beijing of providing weaponry to Moscow. On May 29, Zelensky said that China had stopped selling drones to Ukraine and Western countries while continuing to supply them to Russia.

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  • randomname@scribe.disroot.org
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    19 hours ago

    When Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Russia in May 2025 to celebrate victory day in Moscow, Chinese state-controlled media outlet South China Morning Post reported that China’s Xi Jinping kicked off his state visit by thanking Moscow for supporting Taiwan’s reunification with mainland China.

    In a signed article in Russia’s state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper … [Xi Jinping wrote that Taiwan’s] unification [with China] must be upheld as part of the post-war international order … Celebrating the “enduring friendship” between Moscow and Beijing, he said the two countries had supported each other since World War II …

    The war in Ukraine and China’s aggression against Taiwan are apparently closely linked, at least from China’s point of view. There may or may not be a threat of a U.S.-China war, but here this is just a red herring.

    • plyth@feddit.org
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      15 hours ago

      They are linked, but differently. Without Taiwan, China can be locked into a naval blockade. China doesn’t fully become a pole in a multipolar world without Taiwan. But they don’t have to conquer it. Technological progression will make the Taiwanese want to join China. Only a war could prevent this which means that China will not launch an invasion.

      • randomname@scribe.disroot.org
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        15 hours ago

        Technological progression will make the Taiwanese want to join China. Only a war could prevent this …

        Do yourself a favour and stay away from wherever you get such stuff.

        • plyth@feddit.org
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          13 hours ago

          What’s the counter argument? What will prevent China from leading in all key technologies in 10 or 20 years?