A statement by China's ambassador to the European Union, Fu Cong, about China's non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea and new territories to Russia caused controversy in the Russian media and opened the door to the question of whether Russian-Chinese cooperation is under threat.

Alexei Maslov, director of the Moscow State University Institute of Asian and African Studies, said that China had taken a neutral position and did not recognize the legitimacy of Russia's annexation of Crimea in all UN voting sessions on the file.

On the other hand, he spoke about the strength of relations between the two countries currently, as evidenced by the remarkable volume of interaction between Russia and China at the moment, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries exceeded $ 190 billion by the end of last year, knowing that large contracts were signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow.


Maslov said that if Beijing abandons Moscow's support, Russia will record a decrease in imports of high-tech equipment or exports of energy resources, but this has not been observed until today.

context

Sergey Sanakuyev, vice president of the Russian-Chinese Friendship Association and head of the Asia-Pacific Research Center, said that the statement of the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Wang Yi, and the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping, should be guided to understand Fu Kong's statement and not take it out of context, as President Xi told Putin directly: "You have me, and I have you."

The report pointed out that the possibility of Moscow losing Beijing as an ally portends serious consequences, as the Russian-Chinese alliance is a nightmare for American strategists, who consider its destruction their top priority, so speculation issued by the Western media after Fu Kong's statements varied.


Great interest

Attention to the Chinese official's statement reveals how the circle of people interested in news from China in Russia has become wider, whereas earlier it was narrow and includes only businessmen who have established business with the Chinese.

The report called for understanding the statement of Chinese official Fu Cong in its true context, as it came at a time of escalating military confrontation between China and the United States, with the White House sticking to standing by Taiwan, even if it requires waging war.

Therefore, China wants to maintain its ties with Europe, especially as the volume of trade with the European Union in 2020 exceeds the volume of trade carried out with the United States.

The report acknowledged that the statement of the Chinese ambassador to the European Union was taken out of context, noting that the ambassador stressed that China does not condemn the Russian military operation in Ukraine because it understands Russia's accusations against NATO, and that the Chinese president evaded a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, justifying this by his preoccupation.