Foreign policy expert Harry Kazianis has no doubts. In an interview with “Express”, Putin’s Russia is to become a Chinese colony. And always on the condition that the Russian leader survives the war unscathed.
Kazianis, an analyst at the American think tank Center for National Interest, notes that the sanctions will have a devastating impact on Russia’s economy, forcing Putin to see (or sell) many strategic assets in Beijing. In his opinion, the situation can be compared to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which took place in 1991. At that time, China “took what it could,” meaning China will certainly continue down this path very willingly. .
The 1991 precedent
The political analyst points out that Xi Jinping is looking forward to “setting foot” in Russia and using the ally’s vulnerability to buy war technology, which would bolster its status as a military power on the global chessboard.
In fact, due to Western sanctions imposed by the US and EU in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Beijing would find a country with its economy on the rocks. “Even if Putin withdrew his troops from Ukraine today, the sanctions would not be lifted and that would be the end for him.”
If he survives what he unleashed himself, “he has to agree to eventually becoming a colony of China,” Kazianis said, “because that’s the only way he’ll get the financial support he needs to survive.”
“It’s in China’s interest,” the analyst said, provided there is no further escalation. In fact, Beijing sees a veritable wealth of resources in its Russian neighbor that it needs to continue growing in global economic competition.
After all, he points out to the British newspaper, by the time the USSR collapsed, China was already making a number of beneficial acquisitions when “it was not the superpower it has become now”.
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