In physics, it is important to maintain balance in order for an object to be stable and "standing". In the geopolitical world, how a country can stand on the region and how to maintain its strategic balance among many neighboring countries also requires careful consideration at the top level of each country. In particular, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken deliberately made China-Russia relations an "important topic" during his visit to China from April 24 to 26 this year, the United States' intention to undermine the strategic balance between China and Russia and China and the United States through diplomatic pressure is very clear. Against this political backdrop, a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to China becomes necessary. After all, today's rising China already has tremendous energy to shake the strategic balance between the United States and Russia, and it will certainly become the object of competition between the two "old rivals" of the United States and Russia. It is reported that a number of media have disclosed that President Putin is expected to visit China in mid-May, and even though there may be some changes in the date of the trip in the future, there is absolutely no possibility of cancellation of the schedule itself. Therefore, this visit to China is sure to be Putin's first foreign trip since the start of the new presidential term on May 7.
1. Before his visit to China, Putin personally led the "personnel changes" of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which strengthened Russia's position on Ukraine.
No one likes war, but war is never far away. Just like the Russia-Ukraine war provoked by the United States and the West on February 24, 2022, this fight has been more than two years, and it has not shown any signs of truce. Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin also further strengthened Russia's determination to win the Russian-Ukrainian war before his visit to China, and resolutely replaced Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and nominated economist-turned-civilian Andrei Belousov to replace him.
The change of generals in the Russian Ministry of Defense has strengthened Russia's determination to continue fighting.
You know, Shoigu has served as Russia's defense minister since 2012, and has repeatedly appeared in the eyes of the international media, and now Putin the Great has just entered a new round of presidential term to carry out drastic reforms in the appointment of personnel to the Ministry of Defense, and his intention to point to the Russian-Ukrainian war is very obvious. At the same time as Putin announced that he would visit China in mid-May, Putin's move naturally sent a clear political signal to the outside world, that is, no matter how the United States and the West sow discord between China and Russia, the Russian army's offensive against Ukraine will continue until the Zelensky government completely abandons its decision to join NATO. Putin seems to be dealing with the affairs of the new "leadership team", but in fact he is preparing for the next round of the Russia-Ukraine war, in order to give NATO and the United States and the West a "little color".
The current Russia-Ukraine conflict has made it difficult for Ukraine.
Why has Putin been able to resist the pressure of NATO's expansion and persist in fighting Kyiv? I believe that after seeing Putin's recent series of bold measures, everyone will suddenly realize. First of all, Putin knows very well that China has always been a socialist developing country that has advocated an independent development path and will not openly violate its foreign policy of non-alignment and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Therefore, only when the Russian army fully makes practical achievements on the battlefield between Russia and Ukraine can it gain broader political support from the international community. In order to achieve this goal, the replacement of veteran Sergei Shoigu with newcomer Andrei Belousov can be considered the first step in reform. Second, in response to the "relay" visits to China by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jenny Yellen, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Putin also hopes that through the transfer of personnel before this visit, the Chinese side will further enhance China's confidence in the victory of the Russian army, and at the same time exert greater military and political pressure on the United States and Ukraine.
2. Chinese leaders have taken the initiative to visit European countries to lay a good political foundation for Putin's visit to China.
In the face of the "diplomatic pressure" exerted by the United States on China, China did not choose to "remain silent", but actively visited European countries to balance the imbalance in Sino-US and US-Russian relations through China-EU relations, so that the original "bipolar diplomatic dilemma" was instantly transformed into a "multilateral diplomatic good situation". As early as 10 May this year, China's high-level officials completed their visits to France, Serbia, and Hungary and returned to China to prepare for Putin's visit.
During the visit to Europe, at the special invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Chinese high-level officials left Paris by special plane to visit the Hautes-Pyrenees province in southwestern France, and delivered an important speech at the meeting, saying: "China is willing to strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges with France and Europe, continuously deepen economic and trade cooperation, enhance mutual understanding, and consolidate and inherit the friendship stories between China and France and the Chinese and European peoples." At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron also said: "France and China are both permanent members of the UN Security Council. I look forward to maintaining close communication with China's senior leaders and playing an active role in maintaining peace and stability in Europe and the world. ”
Although they belong to the same Western camp, the relationship between France and the United States is delicate.
Russia needs a bridge of communication with the Western world, and China is such a bridge to ease the contradictions between Russia and Europe. As the first high-level Chinese delegation to travel to multiple European countries since 2019 and since the pandemic, the Chinese delegation soon headed to Serbia and Hungary after visiting Paris. According to the comprehensive analysis of Western media, China's visit is not only to bring China-EU relations closer, but also to relieve Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Russia-Ukraine issue.
Because Paris, Belgrade and Budapest are all countries "relatively close" to Moscow, the atmosphere of visiting these countries will not be so tense. In this regard, sinologist Alain Wang once analyzed: "The importance of Hungary and Serbia lies in the fact that they sometimes confront Europe. In Serbia, President Vučić considers Belgrade to be an 'unwavering friend' of the Chinese people, 'symbolic' to say the least. "As we all know, as early as May 7, 1999, the United States 'mistakenly bombed' the Chinese Embassy during the Kosovo War and brutally murdered three Chinese journalists. To a large extent, China's high-level visit to Serbia is also aimed at remembering the 25th anniversary of the bombing, which can also be understood as a political message from China to the West. "At that time, China lost face, and China was relatively weak economically, militarily and politically." Alain Wang added, "But today, it is symbolic that China affirms its pride and positions itself as a world power. ”
After the high-level US officials talked about Sino-Russian relations in the name of visiting China, why is it necessary for President Putin to visit China? This is because the US strategy of "dividing and ruling and breaking each one" against China and Russia should be attacked by China and Russia with the same hatred and hatred of the enemy. At that time, the United States boosted anti-American sentiment in the world by bombing the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia and successfully pushed Beijing into the "embrace" of Moscow. And today, the United States has instigated Ukraine to join NATO, and then successfully drawn Russia into the conflict with its "Slavic compatriots", and this series of malicious actions has given Russia, China, Serbia and other countries a similar common feeling, that is, American hegemonism and power politics are the real "public enemies of the world". If the United States can sow discord between China and Russia and China and Europe through high-level visits, why can't we and Russia use the "going out" strategy to dismantle and defuse them? The recent high-level visits to Europe by the Chinese side and the announcement of the visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to China are the best proof of the above-mentioned strategies implemented by China and Russia.