Beware of fiery Chinese dragons proffering peace proposals to end the bloody fighting in Ukraine. They are not what they seem to be.
In February, Chinese officials floated the idea of Xi Jinping hosting a peace summit with President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Team Trump wisely rejected Xi as an intermediary, given the growing military and economic alliance between Moscow and Beijing.
Xi’s offer was indeed a Trojan Horse, designed, at best, to obtain Ukraine’s unconditional surrender at the expense of the U.S., and, at worst, calculated to buy Putin time as his military is bogged down in a war of attrition.
Now we are seeing China’s real intentions. Beijing increasingly views Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a useful proxy war against the U.S.
Team Trump admirably wants to end the senseless bloodshed. Xi, however, is now aiming to prolong the war so as to strategically deplete U.S. weapons and munitions stockpiles and to provide the Kremlin time to rebuild its badly mauled military.
Beijing’s participation in Putin’s war was indirect at first, coming in the form of cheap oil and gas purchases and then dual use technologies.
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