The conflict in Ukraine risks inflaming the Sino-American rivalry
If China teams up with Russia there will be a world war, says Ukraine’s president
THE SYMBOLISM could not have been clearer. As America and China drift towards a new cold war, the conflict in Ukraine has increasingly resembled a proxy conflict between the two powers and their rival ideological systems. So when China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi (pictured), travelled to Russia on February 20th, it was only fitting that President Joe Biden should turn up in Kyiv on the same day. China, which dislikes instability, probably did not welcome Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, but it has sought to make the best of the war, manoeuvring to undermine the unity of Western countries. Mr Biden’s trip, planned in secret, was designed to demonstrate Western resolve.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Proxies and peril”
From the February 25th 2023 edition
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