Letters | What was the real motive in Putin’s Winter Olympics trip to China?

Readers discuss whether Putin had a hidden agenda when he attended the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Western criticism of China’s treatment of minorities, and why the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is not attractive to small states like Cambodia

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 4 in Beijing. Photo: AP

Published: 2:30pm, 16 Jun 2022

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Looking back now, what did Russian President Vladimir Putin hope to achieve by attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 4? Did he truly want to show friendship with China, as people generally believed at the time?

The Russia-Ukraine military conflict did not begin until February 24, four days after the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics. It seems that Putin showed respect for China by not causing trouble during the games – unlike when the Russia-Georgia war began on August 8, 2008, the same day as the opening of the Beijing Summer Olympics.

But maybe Putin’s attending the Winter Olympics opening ceremony was just an insidious trick: the West would suspect Russia had informed China before the conflict and that China agreed or acquiesced.

Qin Gang, Chinese ambassador to the US, explained in an op-ed in The Washington Post on March 15: “There have been claims that China had prior knowledge of Russia’s military action and demanded Russia delay it until the Winter Olympics concluded. Recent rumours further claimed that Russia was seeking military assistance from China. Let me say this responsibly: Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported this war are purely disinformation.”

However, this has hardly dispelled the West’s doubts, and makes it difficult for China to remain neutral. If Putin’s aim was to drag China into this situation and make it look like it was on Russia’s side, he may have succeeded.

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | What was the real motive in Putin’s Winter Olympics trip to China?

Letters | What was the real motive in Putin’s Winter Olympics trip to China?