The countries’ friendship knows “no boundaries,” they declared.
Given that the leaders met just weeks before the invasion, it would be understandable to conclude that China should have been more aware of the Kremlin’s plans. But growing evidence suggests that the echo chamber of China’s foreign policy has misled not only the country’s internet users, but its own officials as well.
My colleague Edward Wong reported that senior US officials met with their Chinese counterparts over a three-month period and shared intelligence detailing the Russian troop build-up around Ukraine. The Americans asked the Chinese officials to intervene with the Russians and tell them not to invade.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the global economy
An increasing concern. Russia’s attack on Ukraine could cause staggering increases in energy and food prices and deter investors. The economic damage from supply disruptions and economic sanctions would be severe in some countries and industries and undetected in others.
The Chinese waved the Americans off and said they didn’t think an invasion was imminent. US intelligence showed that on one occasion Beijing shared the Americans’ information with Moscow.
Recent speeches by some of China’s most influential advisers to the government on international relations suggest that the miscalculation may be based on deep mistrust of the United States. They saw it as a waning power that wanted to wage war with false intelligence because it would benefit the United States, financially and strategically.
Jin Canrong, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing, told state broadcaster China Central Television or CCTV on Feb. 20 that the US government had been talking about an impending war because an unstable Europe would help Washington, as well as the financial and energy industries. After the war broke out, he admitted to his 2.4 million Weibo followers that he was surprised.
Just before the invasion, Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, mocked the Biden administration’s war predictions in a 52-minute video program. “Why did ‘Sleepy Joe’ use such bad information about Ukraine and Russia?” he asked, using Donald Trump’s favorite nickname for President Biden.
Earlier this week, Mr. Shen held a conference call about the crisis in Ukraine with brokerage clients entitled, “A War That Wouldn’t Be Fought.”
