China announces a rise in military spending at its major legislative meeting marked by its "neutral" position in the war in Ukraine

• War in Ukraine China offers itself as a mediator in Ukraine and India lends itself to a double game

Great Hall of the People

, west

.

The annual political window has been opened in which 2,980 deputies from all over the country travel to

to study the priorities and plans of the central government.

They do not have any voting power, although they do have a voice to propose ideas and projects.

Those who should supervise the work of the government and promulgate laws are the 250 members of

.

Although, in reality, what they do is seal guidelines already decided in advance by President Xi Jinping and his comrades in the Executive.

This early Saturday began the

(

), the conclave of the Chinese Parliament.

In the Legislative of the second world power, the political, economic and social bases of the year are set.

The work report presented by Prime Minister

has revealed that defense spending will increase by 7.1% (last year it grew by 6.8%) to 1.45 trillion yuan (217,000 million euros). ).

It has also set the economic growth rate for 2022 at around 5.5%, the lowest target in three decades, with the exception of 2020, when the pandemic paralyzed the economy.

Last year, growth was 8.1%.

The current slowdown is part of the inalienable national strategy of

.

The Asian country has had its borders closed for two years.

It is the only major economy that remains isolated from the rest of the world.

Its GDP has been weighed down in recent months also by a real estate crisis and energy shortages, to which is added the increase in the cost of raw materials.

The recovery is losing steam.

Diplomatic Juggling in the Ukraine War

But this first plenary session has been marked by the

.

Silence on this in the Beijing assembly.

The Chinese government has been juggling diplomats for two weeks, caught between Russia and the West.

They speak of "neutrality" because they do not support

, but neither have they condemned the attack or spoken of an invasion.

has abstained three times from voting

resolution demanding

stop its attack on

.

Chinese ministers and spokesmen only open their mouths to ask for dialogue between

and

.

Xi Jinping

and

share a common rival,

.

Therein lies their solid strategic relationship, stronger than ever.

But

also wants to maintain its strong trade ties with

and not break with

for good .

"

supports the world order based on the rules of respecting the sovereignty of the nation-state; it is not in favor of revisionism or militarist interventions. It also wants to maintain a stable relationship with the

because the

current political and economic

suits it," says

, a Central Asia analyst at the

.

China, the best mediator

Many experts argue that the

is the first global crisis in which

, as a great power, could intervene as a mediator.

For

, a researcher on

-

relations at the Chinese

is likely to

maintain its current position.

"

's strategic partner

, while

is also a friend.

's national interest

, it makes no sense for

to condemn it," says Cheng, who recalls previous conflicts led by

, such as the 2008 war with

and the invasion of

in 2014, in which China maintained "its position of asking for restraint" without supporting any country.

The state chain CCTV has issued these days positive reports on the Ukrainian president.

But it also cut Friday, during the opening ceremony of the

in

, a speech by

, president of

, who remembered the Ukrainian victims of the Russian attack.

Other print media have run continual editorials blaming the

's attack

.

Both

(

) spokesmen and the many newspapers they serve share

's action is a response to

's expansion

into

.

They have adopted their version of the war from Russian propaganda, starting by buying their northern neighbor's definition of a "special military operation" on what Russian troops are doing in

.

Public opinion on the side of Moscow

Majority public opinion on Chinese social media - at least what the censors let show - has sided with

.

Some Russian stores that sell their products on the Chinese platform JD announced that they had sold out of all their

because the Chinese bought en masse to support

after the sanctions.

In

embassy decided to put a

flag at its entrance

.

The next day,

graffiti was found on his wall.

Part of the most critical current against

has been censored from the national cyberspace.

Just ask the five Chinese historians who signed a letter calling for peace and denouncing the attack ordered by

.

It barely lasted 40 minutes online.

Instead, the vituperation did not affect the many Chinese nationalists who fawned over the Russian president on the networks and who asked

to take the opportunity to take the example and invade

.

An eye on Taiwan: "Reunification is inevitable"

With what happened in

, these days many have put an eye on the autonomous island that

considers a separatist province.

Beijing has been threatening an invasion for years because, in Xi's own words, "reunification is inevitable."

In the week in which the most important meeting of the Chinese political elite has begun,

there has also been movement in

visited the island.

A trip that has made

very angry , who have interpreted it as a provocation from Washington.

"We firmly oppose any separatist activities that seek Taiwan's independence,"

said at the NPC opening.

Former Chairman of

Mike

led the delegation that met with

President

.

Also on that visit was

Secretary of State and

's scourge

during the

.

"The US government must offer

diplomatic recognition as a free and sovereign country," Pompeo later wrote on Twitter.

An acknowledgment that, if completed, could push

to fulfill his eternal promise of reunification - which would translate as an invasion - of what he considers his separatist island.

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