Since 2000, China Russia relations have been facing common pressure from the West.
On June 5, 2019, this pressure promoted the improvement of China Russia relations and was named the "New Era China Russia Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership".
Some analysts believe that the level of partnership in China's foreign relations is unique globally.
The background is that NATO continues to expand eastward, and there has been a long-standing tense standoff between Russia and NATO.
This geopolitical game has led to a series of conflicts, including the 2008 Georgian War, the 2014 Crimean Crisis, and the 2022 Russia Ukraine War.
The Russo Ukrainian conflict far exceeded the expectations of both sides, giving NATO the opportunity to provide significant assistance to Ukraine.
As of the end of February 2024, both Russia and Ukraine reported losses of over 400000 soldiers in the war.
The consumption of war has exceeded Ukraine's affordability, but the United States and Western countries still provide Ukraine with over a hundred billion dollars in economic and military aid, as well as a large amount of weapons and equipment and support from foreign military personnel.
According to Russian sources, as of the end of March 2024, the Russian military has killed nearly 6000 foreign mercenaries, but there are still over 7000 foreign soldiers fighting in the Ukrainian military.
Meanwhile, the United States and the West have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russia, including in areas such as economy, finance, technology, diplomacy, and military cooperation.
This has led to Russia being subjected to over 5500 sanctions, making it the country with the most sanctions in the world.
This war has caused dissatisfaction among many Chinese netizens who support Russia and sparked discussions about how long Russia can continue to support it.
Although China has good relations with Russia, China has not directly provided assistance to Russia for the following four main reasons:
Firstly, China adheres to the foreign policy orientation of maintaining world peace and advocates for resolving conflicts through dialogue.
China believes that international relations should be based on mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, rather than seeking personal gain by supporting war.
Secondly, China does not want to completely push Europe towards the United States through direct aid to Russia.
China believes that the United States instigates the confrontation between Russia and Europe to strengthen its influence in Western Europe, and China is unwilling to see Europe and the United States form an unbreakable alliance.
Thirdly, China believes that Russia has sufficient strength to compete with the US Europe coalition, so China did not directly intervene in the Russia Ukraine war.
Russia's resistance on the battlefield has exceeded the expectations of the United States and Europe, and European aid to Ukraine is mainly driven by political needs rather than practical interests.
Finally, China retains its strategic leverage to constrain the United States and avoid being constrained by its own energy.
China's core strategic interests lie in the Asia Pacific region, so it does not want to be constrained in European affairs and does not want to see its technology and equipment appear on the Russian Ukrainian battlefield.
In summary, although China has not directly supported Russia, it has clear considerations in maintaining its own interests and strategic determination.
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