Friendship between countries has “no limits”, they said. Given that the leaders met just weeks before the invasion, it would be understa...
Friendship between countries has “no limits”, they said.
Given that the leaders met just weeks before the invasion, it would be understandable to conclude that China should have had better knowledge of the Kremlin’s plans. But mounting evidence suggests that the echo chamber of China’s foreign policy establishment may have misled not only netizens in the country, but also its own officials.
My colleague Edward Wong reported that over a three-month period, senior US officials held meetings with their Chinese counterparts and shared intelligence that detailed Russia formation of troops around Ukraine. The Americans asked Chinese officials to intervene with the Russians and tell them not to invade.
The Russian Attack on Ukraine and the World Economy
Growing concern. Russia’s attack on Ukraine could cause skyrocketing energy prices and food and could scare off investors. The economic damage caused by supply disruptions and economic sanctions would be severe in some countries and industries and go unnoticed in others.
The Chinese brushed off the Americans, saying they did not believe an invasion was underway. US intelligence showed that on one occasion Beijing shared the Americans’ information with Moscow.
Recent speeches by some of China’s most influential advisers to the government on international relations suggest that the miscalculation may have been based on a deep mistrust of the United States. They saw it as a declining power that wanted to push for war with false intelligence because it would benefit the United States, financially and strategically.
Jin Canrong, professor at Renmin University in Beijing, Recount state broadcaster China Central Television, or CCTV, on February 20 that the US government had spoken of an imminent war because an unstable Europe would help Washington, as well as the country’s financial and energy industries. After the war started, he told his 2.4 million Weibo followers that he was surprised.
Just before the invasion, Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, ridiculed the Biden administration’s war predictions in a 52-minute video program. “Why did ‘Sleepy Joe’ use such poor quality intelligence on Ukraine and Russia?” he asked, using Donald Trump’s favorite nickname for President Biden.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Shen had held a conference call on the Ukraine crisis with clients of a brokerage, titled “A War That Would Not Be Wage”.
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