There is no doubt that the White House will have an eye on the Red Square. After twisting the arm of many states – allied including – threatening them with customs duties, Donald Trump will see this May 9 Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to get away on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
The Russian president receives his Chinese counterpart for four days for “Strategic communications”according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this visit, the two leaders could still deepen their partnership, already solidified since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and American distrust of China, designated “ main threat » par l’administration Trump.
The Republican nevertheless tried to draw inspiration from one of his predecessors, Richard Nixon, to decouple Moscow from Beijing. In the 1970s, the Watergate instigator took advantage of the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations to get closer to Mao Zedong. In his attempt to be an “inverted Nixon”, Donald Trump tries on the contrary to seduce Russia, by giving it wages, especially on the Ukrainian front.
A record of $ 240 billion in 2024
But the bear prefers to follow the dragon that the eagle: if Vladimir Putin dialogues with the American president, he knows that his mandate will only last four years, at the end of which the wind could turn. “The relationship between Russia and China will last as long as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will live”summarizes Emmanuel Lincot, research director at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS).
Because, since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia must count on its Indian and Turkish partners, but even more broadly on its Chinese neighbor. To compensate for the loss of its oil and gas exports, among other products, to Western Europe, Moscow has opened the East Asian valves since 2021. The exchanges between the two countries also reached a record of $ 240 billion in 2024, more than double the year 2020!
China has massively invested in the Russian market, whether in the automotive sector or that of telephony, and remains its unbeatable first supplier. Except for weapons, which Beijing refrains from delivering, favoring “double -use materials” such as drones or construction vehicles. Russia also uses the Yuan, which has become the majority currency in Moscow, and the country’s banks have joined the Chinese CIPS payment system, after being banned from SWIFT, the Western financial system.
Redeploy Chinese commercial channels in Russia
But dependence does not go only in a direction. Since the customs war launched by Donald Trump, Xi Jinping has been making feet to redeploy Chinese commercial channels, essential for the growth of the country of a billion and a half of souls.
Surrounded by leaders-Japanese, Indians, South Koreans, Taiwanese-favorable to Washington, the secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party knows that he cannot afford to be isolated in Asia, as was the USSR before his fall. He therefore takes care of a sino-Russian relationship which has long been hectic.
Moscow is finally a precious diplomatic ally that Beijing must keep alongside him. Both among the founding states of the BRICS, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin ardently wish to question the world Order and its institutions, and to emancipate the countries of the Global South of American Hegemony – Beijing being careful not to evoke Chinese hegemony. This alliance is therefore, in fact, a threat to the Eagle States, which remains on the lookout.
“Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia shows that the two countries are working on another world order that dismisses the West. Beijing and Moscow have targeted Africa for raw materials. Here, we see India steel arriving, Brazil. There are bound to be China. They will do as for solar panels when they arrive on the European market with products at a lower cost. Then, they will slow down production in order to play on prices, as the practice on steel.
It is regrettable that France and Europe do not put themselves around the table with these two powers. With the customs duties decreed by Donald Trump, India, China and others will conduct an economic policy accordingly. Europe, which does not negotiate anything, will be the big loser by finding itself at the trailer of a trade war between its various countries. It will undergo increased competition. We must carry out real negotiations with these countries and more broadly with the Global South on industrial, commercial, climatic issues, but also diplomacy. We are not talking about enough peace. While conflicts continue in Ukraine or Gaza. »»
-By Christophe Delhelle, operating technician Four TTC
“Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia shows that the two countries are working on another world order that dismisses the West. Beijing and Moscow have targeted Africa for raw materials. Here, we see India steel arriving, Brazil. There are bound to be China. They will do as for solar panels when they arrive on the European market with products at a lower cost. Then, they will slow down production in order to play on prices, as the practice on steel.
It is regrettable that France and Europe do not put themselves around the table with these two powers. With the customs duties decreed by Donald Trump, India, China and others will conduct an economic policy accordingly. Europe, which does not negotiate anything, will be the big loser by finding itself at the trailer of a trade war between its various countries. It will undergo increased competition. We must carry out real negotiations with these countries and more broadly with the Global South on industrial, commercial, climatic issues, but also diplomacy. We are not talking about enough peace. While conflicts continue in Ukraine or Gaza. »»
By Christophe Delhelle, operating technician Four TTC
“Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia shows that the two countries are working on another world order that dismisses the West. Beijing and Moscow have targeted Africa for raw materials. Here, we see India steel arriving, Brazil. There are bound to be China. They will do as for solar panels when they arrive on the European market with products at a lower cost. Then, they will slow down production in order to play on prices, as the practice on steel.
It is regrettable that France and Europe do not put themselves around the table with these two powers. With the customs duties decreed by Donald Trump, India, China and others will conduct an economic policy accordingly. Europe, which does not negotiate anything, will be the big loser by finding itself at the trailer of a trade war between its various countries. It will undergo increased competition. We must carry out real negotiations with these countries and more broadly with the Global South on industrial, commercial, climatic issues, but also diplomacy. We are not talking about enough peace. While conflicts continue in Ukraine or Gaza. »»
By Christophe Delhelle, operating technician Four TTC
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