As US President Joe Biden touched down in Ukraine to meet with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, Chinas top diplomat was traveling in the opposite direction, on his way to Russia. Wang Yi who was promoted as Chinese leader Xi Jinpings top foreign policy adviser last month is due to arrive in Moscow this week as part of his eight-day Europe tour, a trip that brings into focus Chinas attempted diplomatic balancing act since Russia tanks rolled into Ukraine a year ago. The optics of the two trips taking place just days before the one-year anniversary of the brutal war on Friday underscores the sharpening of geopolitical fault lines between the worlds two superpowers. While relations between the US and China continue to plummet most recently due to the fallout from a suspected Chinese spy balloon that entered US airspace, China and Russia are as close as ever since their leaders declared a no-limits friendship a year ago partly driven by their shared animosity toward the United States. And as the US and its allies reaffirm their support for Ukraine and stepped up military aid, Beijings deepening partnership with Moscow has raised alarms in Western capitals despite Chinas public charm offensive in Europe to present itself as a negotiator of peace.
At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Wang addressed a room of European officials as dear friends and touted Chinas commitment to peace, while apparently attempting to drive a wedge between Europe and the US. We do not add fuel to the fire, and were against reaping benefits from this crisis, Wang said in a thinly veiled dig at the US, echoing the propaganda messaging that regularly made Chinas nightly prime-time news program that the US is intentionally prolonging the war because its arms manufacturers are earning fat profits from weapon sales. Some forces might not want to see peace talks to materialize. They dont care about the life and death of Ukrainians, nor the harm on Europe. They might have strategic goals larger than Ukraine itself. This warfare must not continue, Wang said. He urged European officials to think about what framework should there be to bring lasting peace to Europe, what role should Europe play to manifest its strategic autonomy. Wang also announced Beijings plan to release its proposition on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis around the first anniversary. But the vague mention of the proposal was met with suspicion from some Western leaders who are closely watching for any support China lends to its northern neighbor especially assistance that could help Russia on the battlefield. We need more proof that China isnt working with Russia, and we arent seeing that now, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told CNN Saturday. Such suspicions are compounded by claims by US officials that Beijing is considering stepping up its partnership with Moscow by supplying Russias military with lethal support.