Asia Lukashenko visits Xi Jinping and supports China's peace plan

China and its two faces

Asia Lukashenko visits Xi Jinping and supports China's peace plan

China and its two faces. That of the mediating power that has a peace plan where, in the first of its 12 points, it asks to respect the sovereignty of all countries and a ceasefire. That reflects a public effort to distance itself from the Western perception that the Asian giant is positioned next to Russia. But then there is China sending its top diplomat to Moscow to say that bilateral relations with the Kremlin are "rock solid." Or the one that, in less than two weeks apart, hosts the leaders of Iran and Belarus, allies of the Putin regime.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko landed in Beijing on Tuesday and this Wednesday he paraded along the red carpet of the Great Hall of the People, the chamber of Tiananmen Square, to shake hands with his counterpart Xi Jinping, who is expected to make a visit to Moscow to chat with Vladimir Putin for the fifth time - the second face-to-face - since the Russian launched the invasion. Instead, there is no apparent breakthrough in a future talk between Xi and Volodymyr Zelensky, as the Ukrainian leader demanded last week after Beijing presented its peace plan.

Lukashenko, immovable in office since 1994, is one of Putin's loyal squires, allowing his country to be used by Russian troops during the initial attack on Ukraine last year. "We have been friends for several years. Our friendship is strong, unbreakable. Against the background of instability and turbulence of the international situation, China is firmly committed to continuing joint efforts with Belarus to strengthen political mutual trust and practical cooperation for the sake of of the dynamic, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral relations", Xi Jinping said according to the reading of the meeting reported by the Belarusian news agency BeITA, which points out that both leaders signed several cooperation documents in areas such as "politics, economy, trade and technology", without giving further details.

"Today's meeting is taking place at a very difficult time that requires new approaches and responsible political decisions. First of all, they must be aimed at preventing a global confrontation that will have no winners. You (referring to Xi's peace plan ) recently declared this clearly and unambiguously, addressing the world community. Belarus has been actively proposing peace and fully supports its initiative on international security," Lukashenko said. On Monday, the European Council announced that the sanctions against the Belarusian regime would be extended for another year for its military support for the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

The Belarusian and Chinese leaders met for the last time last September, during a regional summit held in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), where Xi Jinping also held his first in-person meeting with Putin since the Russian launched his invasion. "Today, no one can contain China or stop its development, not a single problem in the world can be solved without China," Lukashenko said in an interview with the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Eight years ago, Xi, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, paid his first visit to Belarus to inspect the Great Stone industrial park outside Minsk, the largest joint venture between the two countries, with a strong presence of Chinese companies. Belarus, due to its privileged geographical situation as a gateway to Europe, is an important enclave of the new Silk Road, the cornerstone of Xi's foreign policy.

Publicly, both countries always say good words to each other and praise their mutual cooperation. But the reality is that, on the part of Beijing, the diplomatic relationship cooled, as well as the economic one, after the political crisis in Minsk -after the rigged presidential elections of 2020- and the repression of the Lukashenko regime against mass protests. China also kept its distance in the subsequent migratory crisis created by Belarus, as well as after the sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Instead, after Lukashenko renounced allowing Western-made vaccines into his country, Beijing came to the rescue by sending around five million doses of his sera to Belarus.

The Belarusian leader arrived in China for a three-day visit while the United States continues to point out that Beijing is considering sending military aid to Russia. This was said last Sunday by both Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, and William Burns, CIA director.

Every few months since the invasion of Ukraine began, Washington brings to the table, without any proof, but knowing that it will make headlines in the Western press, its concern that Beijing will provide military support to Moscow. From the Asian giant they deny it and accuse their rival of "fanning the flame" of the confrontation in the war in Ukraine.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project