New Delhi. By the way, China has been accusing America of having a “cold war mentality” for a long time. But some recent activities of China and steps taken by Chinese President Xi Jinping indicate that he is again pushing the world towards a new kind of cold war. This can be understood from the chronology of some recent events.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on March 20 last month to meet Comrade Vladimir Putin, where he spent three days. During this, both the leaders praised each other deeply and reiterated the close strategic ties. This was not only China’s support to Russia but also a show of regional solidarity for Putin in crisis amid the Ukraine war. The Chinese President took this step at a time when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes.
As Xi Jinping was leaving Russia after spending three days in Moscow, he told Putin, “Changes are taking place, the likes of which we haven’t seen in 100 years. Let’s continue those changes.” To this the Russian leader replied, “I agree.”
Subsequently, on 16 April, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu arrived in Moscow to meet Russian President Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Meanwhile, Li expressed happiness that their relationship “is faring better than Cold War-era military-political alliances. Which are based on the principles of non-alignment, and are very strong and stable.”
However, calling it “non-aligned” is a statement of double standards, as both China and Russia have demonstrated their hostility towards the West and have supported each other in this direction. On 4 February 2022, Xi said that their relationship had “no boundaries” and “no defined areas of cooperation”. Xi then said that the benefits of this friendship far outweighed the costs.
China may pretend to be neutral amid the Ukraine war, but it is also clear to the world that Xi has deliberately put his chariot in front of Russia’s war horses. Chinese leaders, on the other hand, refuse to criticize Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, instead accusing the United States and NATO of prolonging the war.
What is interesting about all this is that in the first round of talks with Xi Jinping, more than half of Putin’s team included officials who have been associated with Russia’s weapons and space programs. This clearly shows that the purpose of Xi’s visit to Moscow was military cooperation. Russia has been keen to make use of China’s vast industrial potential along with scrapping its equipment barrel. Xi, on the other hand, is undoubtedly on the hunt for Russia’s most treasured secrets.
While Russia has widened the chasm between democracies and autocracies by invading Ukraine, China has stoked protests in parts of Europe without fighting a war. This is what is pushing the whole world into a new cold war and only Xi Jinping can be responsible for this.
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