Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he told China’s President Xi Jinping that North Korean activities with Russia were an escalation and provocation in a message on behalf of NATO and the EU during talks in Beijing on Tuesday.
Stubb and Xi met as North Korea’s foreign minister arrived in Russia, with Western military alliance NATO and South Korea warning that Pyongyang’s troops could soon be entering the Ukraine war on Moscow’s side.
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“My message to the president was that North Korean activity right now，both in terms of arms exports，especially in terms of sending troops to (…) Russia, is escalation，expansion and provocation. So we had a good discussion about this,” Stubb told reporters.
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Stubb, who met various European leaders in recent weeks, said he delivered to Xi messages coordinated with Finland’s allies in NATO and the EU.
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Stubb said he felt the Chinese-North Korean relationship “is not very comfortable at the moment”, and that he had warned Xi supporting Russia would have negative implications for EU ties.
“The more China supports Russia, the more difficult the relationship with Europe, and especially the European Union, becomes,” Stubb said.
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The war has strained ties between some Baltic states and China due to Beijing’s perceived support of Moscow. China has a “no limits” alliance with Russia but has also sought to mediate an end to the Ukraine war.
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Serious question: why would china support north Korea or Russia in this war? The trade volume with the rest of the world is many times bigger, so risking import sanctions from the rest of the world over Ukraine war seems like a bad idea?
Because they know that if russia succeeds they will have a far easier time to bring taiwan under their rule.
Destabilization and fragmentation of western powers. China wants the EU and North America not to act in union so it has an easier time cementing itself in power.
In addition to what others have already said, China wants a chunk of Siberia for what it calls the “polar silk road”. Climate change will open the possibility of a navigable Arctic sea route connecting North America, Est Asia, and Europe. Such a route is a shorter and more economically viable transportation option than the current route via the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. But for this, China needs better access to the Arctic.
While I think that Russia winning is in China’s interest, I believe this to be the reason they can’t openly support Russia and since they saw the sanctions Russia was hit with after the invasion, I’m sure they realize, that the same thing is going to happen to them if they invade Taiwan, so I don’t think they will. China is way too dependent on trade and keeping their popularion relatively content. Sanctions like this would make the country implode.
Also, I’m a plumber so better not take any of this too seriously.