Operation “AND”

Sergei Strokan on what and why the main Chinese diplomat flew to Moscow

The eight-day tour of the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Wang Yi, which began last week in Paris, finishes in Moscow, and on the eve of the anniversary of the special military operation in Ukraine.

In advance, the official program of the visit and its timing were not disclosed, which gave rise to numerous speculations about what the meaning of Wang Yi’s mission would be. First of all, there was a temptation to conclude that the visit should demonstrate Beijing’s that the Russian Federation will always have a reliable Chinese rear. For some reason, many are convinced that China is ready to continue to passively and patiently wait for the end of the Ukrainian conflict.

However, in assessing Beijing’s new game, launched during this year’s first foreign trip by the top Chinese diplomat, there is every reason to believe that, despite the willingness to continue to show solidarity with Russia, Wang Yi flew to Moscow with a different goal. This goal is to send a clear message to Moscow that the ongoing standoff between Russia and the West, centered on Ukraine, is becoming more painful and more problematic for China.

Beijing, which is suffering losses due to the destruction of world trade supply chains and numerous restrictions, is experiencing obvious discomfort. The “red flags” set up by the West, which cannot be crossed, each time force the PRC to puzzle over how to get around this situation. That is why Beijing does not want to wait for the situation to be resolved – it intends to try to contribute to its speedy resolution.

Wang Yi’s tasks in Moscow cannot be understood in isolation from what happened before with his participation in Paris, Rome and at the security conference in Munich. In European capitals and decision-making centers, Wang Yi tried to present China not only as an economic superpower, but also as a geopolitical player capable of taking the lead in global crisis management. Offering Beijing as the new locomotive of the diplomatic process on Ukraine, Wang Yi urged Western leaders to speed up efforts to achieve peace, rather than hope for an indefinite war with Russia to a victorious end.

China’s peace plan for Ukraine is expected to be unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. According to Bloomberg, this plan will include a call for a ceasefire and arms supplies to Kyiv. It cannot be ruled out that, under certain circumstances, Beijing will be ready to offer its services for the reconstruction of the Ukrainian space after a peace agreement is reached.

New ambitions are also manifested in the Chinese concept of global security, made public on the day of Wang Yi’s arrival in Moscow. Its goal is proclaimed to “eliminate the root problems of international conflicts.” At first glance, it sounds utopian, especially since Washington does not need any diplomatic successes from Beijing. For America, these successes would have turned into its defeat. But be that as it may, on the eve of the anniversary of the special operation, China launched a new peacekeeping project for it, the implementation of which should be facilitated by Operation I in Moscow.