Xi-Biden talks: should China put limits on its no-limits ties with Russia?
- The US president warned of unspecified consequences for giving material support to Moscow
- Sanctions aside, Washington could find ways to sideline Beijing, analyst says
The US decision to not specify the fallout of any attempt by China to provide “material support” to Russia puts the ball firmly in Beijing’s court, analysts said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also declined to elaborate, saying that it would be “most constructive to have those conversations directly with the Chinese”.
07:14
What China could gain, and lose, in the Ukraine-Russia crisis
Pang Zhongying, an international relations professor at Ocean University of China, said Biden’s ambiguity meant China had to draw boundaries on its “no-limits” friendship with Russia to avoid attracting wide-ranging sanctions itself.
“They are de facto allies without limits, but China now must have limits,” Pang said.
“There must be clear – at least relatively clear – limits imposed on yourself.”
Pang said that if China failed to set these limits, ties with the United States would further deteriorate, and lead to decoupling of the world’s two biggest economies.