{"id":1503250,"date":"2022-06-04T08:34:18","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T12:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1503250"},"modified":"2022-06-04T08:34:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T12:34:24","slug":"china-continues-to-reject-putins-requests-for-economic-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-continues-to-reject-putins-requests-for-economic-support\/","title":{"rendered":"China Continues to Reject Putin\u2019s Requests for Economic Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchina-continues-to-reject-putins-requests-for-economic-support%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1503250&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/russia-china-tell-nato-stop-expansion-moscow-backs-beijing-taiwan-2022-02-04\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cno limits\u201d partnership<\/a> that was announced in February appears to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2022\/06\/02\/china-support-russia-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found a limit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s stubbornness may help explain why Putin has been so <a href=\"https:\/\/hotair.com\/allahpundit\/2022\/06\/01\/report-ukrainian-troops-retreat-from-sievierodonetsk-n473375\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">determined to seize Sievierodonetsk<\/a> despite the fact that it\u2019s not hugely strategically important. He doesn\u2019t just want a victory to show off to his constituents, he wants a victory to show off to his new banker. Progress on the ground after three months of flailing might unlock Chinese economic support. Xi Jinping wouldn\u2019t want to pour money into a losing effort at the hands of the west, but a <i>winning<\/i> effort\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Putin shouldn\u2019t get his hopes up, though. The main impediment to Chinese support for Russia isn\u2019t the state of the battlefield, it\u2019s the state of the Chinese economy and the reality of western sanctions.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Moscow has on at least two occasions pressed Beijing to offer new forms of economic support \u2014 <strong>exchanges that one Chinese official described as \u201ctense.\u201d<\/strong> The officials familiar with the talks spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter\u2019s sensitivity\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Russia has not requested \u201cweapons and ammunition\u201d to support its war, the Chinese officials said, but declined to comment on whether Russia had requested other items that could be used in military operations including technology and supplies\u2026<\/p>\n<p>China has balked at helping Russia evade sanctions, fearing the United States and it allies could cut China off from critical technology, including semiconductors and aerospace equipment, as well as target its financial system, a Beijing official said. Shipments of high-end Chinese technology to Russia \u2014 including smartphones, laptops and telecommunications equipment \u2014 have plummeted since the war began.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s a problem for Russia, which has relied heavily in the past <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/02\/business\/economy\/russia-weapons-american-technology.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on American technology<\/a> to outfit their weapons and electronics. Now that the supply has been choked off, they\u2019re so strapped to keep their war machine running that they\u2019ve begun to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/05\/11\/russia-sanctions-effect-military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repurpose semiconductors from dishwashers and other appliances<\/a>. China is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semiconductors.org\/chinas-share-of-global-chip-sales-now-surpasses-taiwan-closing-in-on-europe-and-japan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">major producer of semiconductors<\/a>, as it happens, and could help fill the gap for Moscow. But replenishing Russia\u2019s stocks would risk western sanctions on Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>And Beijing can\u2019t afford western sanctions right now due in part to their \u201czero COVID\u201d foolishness. The Chinese economy has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/05\/16\/economy\/china-economic-toll-zero-covid-policy-intl-hnk\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ravaged by protracted lockdowns<\/a>: Retail sales dropped by more than 10 percent year over year in April, far worse than analysts\u2019 expectations, and unemployment reached its highest level since the start of the pandemic. Economic activity has slowed for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinas-economic-downturn-shows-signs-of-easing-11653991228\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">three straight months<\/a> as western analysts have begun revising their projections for China\u2019s GDP this year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/05\/18\/goldman-sachs-cuts-its-china-gdp-forecast-on-covid-controls.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">downward<\/a>. All of that comes at an anxious time for Xi, as he hopes and expects to be reelected to another term as CCP leader this fall. He\u2019s worried enough to have just announced a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/commodities\/china-unveils-detailed-stimulus-policies-support-virus-hit-economy-2022-05-31\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">33-point stimulus plan<\/a> to speed the economic recovery.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re facing a perfect storm of recessionary pressures, writes <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2022\/05\/31\/china-xi-economy-covid-lockdown-geopolitics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clark Packard<\/a>, some self-inflicted, others unavoidable. Endless lockdowns plus overregulation of the vibrant Chinese tech industry plus the debt bubble in Chinese real estate plus global supply shocks from the war in Ukraine make for an ugly near-term outlook. Not a moment to go all-in with an economic weakling like Russia in defiance of the powerhouse west, in other words.<\/p>\n<p>Before the war, Xi might have called the west\u2019s bluff and aided Russia anyway, gambling that the U.S. and EU wouldn\u2019t have the stones to damage their own economies at a moment of global economic pain by sanctioning China. But after watching them scramble to cut off Russian oil despite the effect that would have on gas prices, he seems to have decided not to call our bluff. Jake Sullivan, Biden\u2019s national security advisor, held an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/03\/14\/us-holds-intense-7-hour-talks-with-china-amid-russias-war-in-ukraine.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cintense\u201d seven-hour meeting<\/a> with the Chinese in mid-March warning them not to test western resolve by coming to Russia\u2019s rescue. It seems that warning was heeded.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s another complication for Beijing. Ditching \u201czero COVID\u201d and reopening the economy aggressively would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinas-economic-downturn-shows-signs-of-easing-11653991228\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">solve some of China\u2019s problems<\/a> but it\u2019s not a realistic solution, politically or epidemiologically. China\u2019s health-care system couldn\u2019t handle a nationwide outbreak of Omicron among 1.3 billion people, many of whom remain unvaccinated (or vaccinated with poor vaccines) and lack natural immunity. And Xi fears that abandoning \u201czero COVID\u201d would amount to an admission of error in how to handle the pandemic, essentially acknowledging that the west had the better approach. So China won\u2019t get rid of \u201czero COVID.\u201d To the contrary, it looks like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-05-31\/china-plans-for-years-of-covid-zero-with-tests-on-every-corner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it\u2019s here to stay<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A network of tens of thousands of lab testing booths are being set up across the country\u2019s largest and most economically vital cities, with the goal of having residents always just a 15 minute walk away from a swabbing point. The infrastructure will allow cities like Beijing, Shanghai, tech hub Shenzhen and e-commerce heartland Hangzhou to require tests as often as every 48 hours, with negative results needed to get on the subway or even enter a store. <\/p>\n<p>Researchers at China\u2019s prestigious Tsinghua University designed robots to automate the swabbing process. Companies are dangling monthly salaries exceeding 10,000 yuan ($1,487) to recruit staff for the white, modular buildings that feature either sliding windows reminiscent of an amusement park entry point or two circular holes, chest-high, that allow workers to slip out gloved hands for swabbing purposes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019ll be sporadic lockdowns unto eternity in China, which I suppose is fitting for a totalitarian state. Expect global supply chain disruptions to last, uh, forever.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, however, Beijing may be the west\u2019s best bet to help bring the war to a conclusion in the near term. A Chinese official told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2022\/06\/02\/china-support-russia-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WaPo<\/a> that \u201cthe war in Ukraine had dragged on much longer than expected, and Beijing has made clear to Moscow that an end to the conflict would allow China more leeway to oppose sanctions and grow business ties inside Russia in the wake of the exodus of foreign firms.\u201d I doubt the Ukrainians are prepared to cede the Donbas now that they\u2019re flush with western heavy weapons but China wanting the war to end soon is the closest thing to good news we\u2019ve had in awhile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cno limits\u201d partnership that was announced in February appears to have found a limit. China\u2019s stubbornness may help explain why Putin has been so determined to seize Sievierodonetsk despite<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1503250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}