AS a manufacturing titan, China has become the top trading partner of 128 countries. The United States, despite its much touted trade war with the Asian giant, imported products worth $450.4 billion from China in 2020 against exports of $164.9 billion, which resulted in a trade deficit of $285.5 billion.
Imports of the European Union from China grew 35 percent in the last decade. In 2020, the EU’s total imports were worth around $463 billion against exports to China valued at $245 billion. No wonder the EU has a ballooning trade deficit with China, much like the US.
From the Associated Press: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russians of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine and told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one established at Nuremberg after World War II. Over the past few days, grisly images of what appeared to be intentional killings of civilians carried out by Russian forces in Bucha and other towns before they withdrew from the outskirts of Kyiv have caused a global outcry and led Western nations to expel scores of Moscow’s diplomats and propose further sanctions, including a ban on coal imports from Russia.”
From Bloomberg: The European Union’s foreign policy chief described a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “deaf dialog,” casting doubt on how much cooperation the Asian nation will offer to end the war in Ukraine.
“China wanted to set aside our difference on Ukraine,” said Josep Borrell, who accompanied European leaders in talks with Xi last week. “They didn’t want to talk about Ukraine. They didn’t want to talk about human rights and other issues, and instead focused on the positive things.”
Borrell told the European Parliament on Tuesday that “the European side made clear that this compartmentalization is not feasible, not acceptable.” He said the EU urged China to “use its influence with Russia to reach an immediate cease-fire and to support humanitarian corridors,” and added that any attempt to help Moscow evade sanctions would have “serious consequences.”
From Bloomberg: “China’s top liquefied natural gas importers are cautiously looking to purchase additional Russian shipments that have been shunned by the market in a bid to take advantage of cheap prices. State-owned companies including Sinopec and PetroChina are in discussions with suppliers to buy spot cargoes from Russia at a deep discount, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Some importers are considering using Russian firms to participate in LNG purchase tenders on their behalf to hide their procurement plans from overseas governments, the people said. Most LNG importers around the world won’t buy Russian cargoes out of fear of future sanctions or damage to reputation, as the war in Ukraine drags on and the European Union ratchets up pressure against Moscow. Chinese firms are emerging as some of the only companies willing to take on that risk.”
China has already demonstrated its willingness to work with nations that have been sanctioned by the West. Warnings seem hollow, as China has no cost in openly violating, for example, UN and US sanctions on Iran and North Korea.
The US and its allies can cripple Russia with severe sanctions, but only if they can prevent Chinese backfilling. But it would be crazy for the US and the EU to just cut Chinese trade off. That’s why China can take advantage of the Russian sanctions and throw a lifeline to Putin.
The US and EU are now forced into the painful recognition that Russia’s economy is still being propped up by Beijing. In other words, the more money they put into Chinese pockets, the more ammunition gets loaded into Russian guns.