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China still has a lot of support for Russia amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but that support has limits, according to one expert.
“China supported, helped… and protected the Russians,” James Carafano, vice president of the Catherine and Shelby Callom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
But if China faced harsh sanctions in the form of tariffs, everything would change.
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“I think the Chinese would have completely thrown the Russians under the bus,” Carafano said. “Secondly, it creates pain points for China.”
Putin’s mistake
Experts said Russian President Vladimir Putin underestimated the resistance his military would receive from Ukraine, leading to a protracted invasion now in its third week.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping (Getty Images)
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Just this week, China’s foreign minister called the country’s relationship with Russia “the most important strategic partner.”
“No matter how dangerous the international landscape is, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of an all-round Sino-Russian partnership in the new era,” Wang Yi told reporters on Monday at a press conference for the annual commemorative meeting of the Chinese Parliament.
“The friendship between the two peoples is indestructible.”
“Clear indication” where CCP stands
Heino Klink, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital this week that China’s comment is a “pretty clear indication” of “the position of the Chinese Communist Party.”
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“The Chinese do have a strategic partnership, and they are united by the fact that they both oppose a world in which America retains a key, if not a key, leadership role,” he said.
Klink said China stands between keeping Russia “in trouble” and also protecting itself from being “painted with the same brush as North Korea, Eritrea, Syria and Belarus.”
Last week, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the Russian invasion, with 141 countries voting in favor of the resolution. China was among 35 countries that abstained from the vote, while Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria voted against the resolution.
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Eyes in Taiwan?
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, speculation has grown about whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will seize the opportunity to invade Taiwan.
China views Taiwan, off the coast of mainland China, as a breakaway province that will one day become part of the country. Taiwan operates as an independent country.
As Xi is likely considering whether to invade Taiwan, the strength of his military will also play a role.
Russia fights the nascent invasion as the Ukrainians continue to fight their enemy, resulting in the deaths of some 3,000 Russian soldiers. Carafano said Russia was demonstrating that “no matter how incompetent [the Russian military is]they are really good at killing civilians.”
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a damaged logistics center after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022 (Associated Press)
“It doesn’t matter that they can’t end the wars. They have shown that they are ready to start them … a lot of destruction and death, a lot of refugees, ”he said, noting that no one should look at the war. as proof, the Russian military is not a problem.
Russian self-propelled howitzers 2S35 “Coalition-SV” roll towards Red Square during the military Victory parade in Moscow, May 9, 2021, dedicated to the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. (Associated Press)
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Carafano said China has a similar problem with its military. He did not participate in any wars to demonstrate his abilities.
“The Chinese military has the same problems as the Russians, in that they didn’t actually fight. And if you really look at the Chinese border operations with India, they are not very impressive. the ability to conduct large-scale military operations,” Carafano said.
Freshmen take part in a military exercise at Southeast University on October 22, 2021 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. (Getty images)
According to Carafano, states sometimes need to be “more careful about deterring reckless and incompetent people than they are about containing competent enemies.”
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, more than 2 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN.
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The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday that 474 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began, with 861 confirmed wounded. The department calculated that the real numbers are actually higher.