By Invitation | Russia, Ukraine and China

Senior Colonel Zhou Bo says the war in Ukraine will accelerate the geopolitical shift from West to East

The more popular it becomes to join NATO, the more insecure Europe will be

IF THE ENEMY of my enemy is my friend, is the enemy of my friend also my enemy? Not necessarily. Or so China’s thinking goes when it comes to the raging Russian-Ukranian war. On the one hand China is Russia’s strategic partner. On the other, China is the largest trading partner of Ukraine. Beijing therefore tries painstakingly to strike a balance in its responses to the war between two of its friends. It expresses understanding of Russia’s “legitimate concerns” over NATO’s expansion, while underlining that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected”.

This article appeared in the By Invitation section of the print edition under the headline “Senior Colonel Zhou Bo says the war in Ukraine will accelerate the geopolitical shift from West to East”

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