Trying to Play it Safe

Is China abandoning its "limitless" partnership with Russia? In one sign that Vladimir Putin has "jumped the shark" It seems that his erstwhile Chinese BFFs are having second thoughts.

An article by HotAir's Allahpundit certainly suggests that China is reassessing its betrothal to Russia and Mr. Putin:

— On Monday, the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine met with authorities in Lviv to say that China “will respect the path chosen by Ukrainians because this is the sovereign right of every nation.” He also promised Chinese help with Ukrainian economic development after the war.

— The same day, Jake Sullivan held “intense” talks for seven hours with a Chinese official in Rome warning Beijing of consequences if it rescued Russia’s war in Ukraine by supplying Putin with military and economic aid.

— Last night, a German paper reported that the Russian foreign minister was en route to China for a visit when his plane mysteriously made an about-face and returned to Russia. It’s unclear why, but some speculate that Chinese officials may have decided they didn’t want the bad optics of meeting with him at the moment.

— This morning, the White House announced that Biden will speak with Xi Jinping directly tomorrow about the prospect of China providing Russia with aid.

— Today, a change has been detected in the tenor of Chinese media’s coverage of the war. CGTN is a state-run network with chapters in the west, a sort of Chinese version of RT. They ran multiple segments about Ukrainian civilians being killed within the past 24 hours and made no bones about who was responsible.

A cynic might say that it's not the human rights abuses and atrocities perpetrated by the Russian forces in Ukraine that have the Chinese feeling a bit anxious. After all, their own record with regard to the horrors perpetrated on the Uyghurs and others in China is not particularly heartwarming.

Rather, China is probably upset that the Russian invasion appears at this point to be an abject failure. The Chinese don't want to be associated with a fiasco, but neither do they want to file for divorce from their incompetent significant other just yet.

On the other hand, if it looks to them like Ukraine might actually prevail in this war they don't want to completely alienate themselves from Mr. Zelenskyy either.

The Chinese are walking a geopolitical tightrope, and they doubtless realize that a single misstep will be most unfortunate for them.

Read the HotAir article for more on China's predicament.