Recently, the foreign ministers of Russia and the United States have come to China one after another—obviously, China has become an important target that both Russia and the United States want to woo.
Of course, the United States, which regards itself as the "world's policeman," has both wooed and suppressed China -- "using pressure to promote co-optation" is a consistent trick of the United States in dealing with China.
According to a report by Russia Today on April 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference after his visit to China:
"China is a major supplier of machinery and equipment, microelectronics and nitrocellulose and other dual-use products needed to manufacture ammunition and missile fuel, which Moscow is using to expand its defense industrial base. The replenishment of the Russian defense industrial base threatens the security of not only Ukraine, but also the whole of Europe. As we have been reiterating to China for some time, ensuring transatlantic security is a core U.S. interest. In today's talks, I made it clear: 'If China doesn't solve this problem, we will'. ”
"If China does not solve the problem, the United States will solve it" -- this is obviously already an extremely naked threat! Moreover, the fact that a foreign minister still makes such a threat during his visit to China reflects on the one hand the hegemonic features of the US hegemons who have no scruples; on the other hand, it also shows that how to balance Sino-Russian relations well is facing a serious test -- especially the relevant trade issues between China and Russia -- Obviously, it has become more and more a hot potato that makes China feel more and more troublesome.
For example, there has been recent news that the United States has threatened to kick some Chinese banks involved in financial transactions with Russia out of the global financial communication network - SWIFT; since then, it has been reported that some of China's larger banks have begun to refuse to accept Russian trade payments, while only some small Chinese banks that rarely involve US dollar business continue to receive relevant payments from Russia.
At present, in China's foreign trade, the use of the SWIFT system for US dollar settlement, the proportion is as high as 47%, although we have established a RMB cross-border payment system - CIPS, but at present, in the era of US dollar financial hegemony, we are not yet able to fully compete with SWIFT - once the threat of the United States becomes a reality, it will inevitably have a great impact on China's foreign trade, which will obviously touch China's fundamental national interests.
Then, in the face of our northern neighbor, which we once said that "there is no upper limit to the friendship between China and Russia", China will obviously have to balance the priorities and weigh the pros and cons here.
For example, some of China's major banks have been rejecting financial payments from Russia because of threats from the United States, which actually illustrates a problem: The way countries get along with each other, friendship may be claimed to be unlimited, but national interests must still have a principled lower limit—— that is, we must balance our interests, and it is impossible to face major damage to national interests and take major risks and be desperate.
Because, the key issue now is that the United States, with military hegemony as an important backing, financial hegemony as an important tool, and values hegemony as an important thug, is still the dominant pole in the world!
The multipolar world that China is trying to promote is taking shape, but it is still difficult to say, and it has surpassed the United States and the West, so this is also an important reason why China openly declares that it will maintain the post-World War II international order - because, although the United States has benefited the most from it, in fact, under this order, China and Russia have temporarily occupied the main center of the world's discourse, for example, the veto power of the five permanent members of the United Nations.
However, it is self-evident that China and Russia, as neighbors, are currently facing a common major adversary, the United States, and they are bound to have similar worries about "cold lips and teeth"; and normal Sino-Russian trade rights should not be allowed to be arbitrarily deprived by other countries, so it is impossible for China to become a "pure neutral" that has no trade relations with Russia in full accordance with the requirements of the United States.
In the face of the United States' step-by-step pressing, China is unlikely to completely turn its face with its own initiative, so if China and Russia are restricted in some areas of trade, and the withdrawal of financial payments is inevitable, then China is still very likely to have to constantly make some corresponding adjustments in the face of its own national interests - and the United States can achieve some goals in order to complicate Sino-Russian relations.
Obviously, the impact of this incident on Russia is extremely significant - Russia, which has been sanctioned by the United States and many Western countries, will obviously have a more and more difficult time if it continues to be restricted in Sino-Russian trade. This is also an important reason why after the recent visit of the Russian foreign minister to China, it was reported that Putin will also visit China: Putin came to China last year and will come again this year.
Chinese officials have repeatedly declared that China is not a party to the Russia-Ukraine war, let alone a firebreaker, and China has been using concrete actions to promote the early achievement of the goal of "stopping war and peace".
Moreover, China, as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations and one of the signatories to the "security guarantee for Ukraine from nuclear attack", is obviously unlikely to remain silent if Russia threatens or actually uses nuclear weapons.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, New China has always been a faithful defender and supporter of the principle of "territorial sovereignty integrity", so some Chinese netizens believe that we can completely tear our faces with the United States, regardless of Ukraine's feelings, and comprehensively turn to Russia, in fact, this is not realistic, and it is also not the most rational and beneficial choice for China.
How to do a good job of balancing national interests as the bottom line, so that our interests can be minimized and profits maximized, is obviously an inevitable choice for China in the face of state-to-state relations.
The slogan of "friendship without limits" does not represent the substantive pursuit of "unlimited interests", and there are no permanent friends or enemies between countries, but only eternal interests.
Of course, as neighboring countries, there are still many ways for China and Russia to trade normally, such as "bartering", etc., and they can still avoid using the payment system dominated by the US hegemony, and can better avoid the US thief's eye surveillance of making fault out of nothing.
However, because of such a world situation and the unbreakable nature of China's own position and principles, the bottom line and practical effect of "Sino-Russian relations and Sino-Russian trade" will actually be produced for Russia, "we in China can only help you here".
In fact, with Russia's performance in this war, no matter what happens to Russia in the future, Sino-US relations will definitely be "like this"!
That is to say, the United States still only regards China as its number one rival or enemy, while Russia's status as the world's second-largest country, and even the title of "military world's second-most," will basically be difficult to carry this false name in the future.
However, China is obviously not Russia, and our economic and military strength are constantly increasing, and it is even surpassing and pulling away Russia -- except that it is less than Russia in terms of nuclear weapons inventory, it is not weaker than Russia in other aspects, and Russia cannot compare with China in terms of the economic foundation and level of substantial backing, which is also an important reason why the United States has been fighting with China without breaking it.
Of course, it would be good if Russia was entangled with the United States and the West, and this would help China win more historical space for tossing and turning, but obviously, just as it is impossible for China to completely tear its face with the United States, it will also not be completely tied to Russia -- first, it is not necessary, second, it is not worth it, and third, China has the self-confidence to face all situations.
Because, no matter what the final outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war is, in fact, China will not be completely allied with either side, and independence is China's eternal diplomatic strategic choice and practical need.
So, for our northern neighbor, we can't bet all our hopes on China, in fact, it has some important options, such as North Korea, which benefited greatly from the former Soviet Union, and India, which Russia has been supporting with weapons mainly against China, although India is more obvious in the face of national interests.
The outcome of the Russian-Ukrainian war, of course, and will inevitably profoundly affect and change the world - but no matter what the result is, in fact, for China, it is only to develop itself first, and rely on others, including Russia or the United States, the idea cannot be relied on forever! After all, friendship has a shelf life, but benefits will never be there!