Speaker 1: Jules eight minutes here before the top of the our
Speaker 1: Chinese president Shi Jinping is re emerging this week alongside
Speaker 1: Russia's President Vladimir Putin. They will have a meeting on
Speaker 1: Thursday that will be the first time they sat down
Speaker 1: together since Russia invaded Ukraine. Joining US Now is Rebecca
Speaker 1: shown Wilkins, Bloomberg's Asia Government and Politics correspondent. Well, it's
Speaker 1: a pretty interesting time, and I think you'd have to say,
Speaker 1: Rebecca that given the losses that we've seen of late
Speaker 1: by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, that this could give Si
Speaker 1: Jumping the upper hand. What does Shi Jinping want from
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin? Well, I think the big sort of goal
Speaker 1: from from this type of trip. On the one hand,
Speaker 1: it does seem to sort of be this victory lap
Speaker 1: for sejim Ping ahead of Congress um and a return
Speaker 1: to the global stage. But on the other he does
Speaker 1: seem very keen with projecting his image of an alternative
Speaker 1: world order, and of course Putin very much and Russia
Speaker 1: support very much feeds into that idea. And we've seen
Speaker 1: both comments from Moscow and Beijing sort of apping upping
Speaker 1: the anti on this type of rhetoric around combating the hedgemony,
Speaker 1: count acting as a counterweight to NATO for example, and
Speaker 1: creating this multipolar context. And of course it's those this
Speaker 1: this seeds In Ping and and Vladimer Putin meeting will
Speaker 1: be the centerpiece. I think of this visit is important
Speaker 1: to to understand as well. This is all happening in
Speaker 1: Central Asia where Seedimping, you know, almost nine years to
Speaker 1: the day launched that landmark piece of foreign policy, his
Speaker 1: Belt and Road initiative, mean nine years ago. So again
Speaker 1: we are seeing very much he Jimping coming to lay
Speaker 1: out not just to this sort of clear tilt towards Russia,
Speaker 1: but this much more global vision that he has just
Speaker 1: ahead of that Congress, that issue can mentioned, which is
Speaker 1: coming up mid next month, and we read that Vladimir
Speaker 1: Putin could seek to push through an agreement on the
Speaker 1: power of Siberia too. That's a gas pipeline that would
Speaker 1: carry Russian gas to China. What is the current status
Speaker 1: of that, Yes, indeed, I think that is a big
Speaker 1: question mark. I mean, Russia exports to China have jumped
Speaker 1: nearly fifty percent to forty one billion dollars in the
Speaker 1: first five months of this year. So we have seen
Speaker 1: ties trade ties, certainly between Moscow and Beijing grow this year.
Speaker 1: When it comes to energy in particular, clearly China is
Speaker 1: leaning on Russia to source more of its coal imports
Speaker 1: for example about this year, but saying that, you know,
Speaker 1: China still does primarily rely on on its local minds
Speaker 1: to to supply its coal, and so there is certainly
Speaker 1: a very asymmetric relationship here, even as Russia clearly is
Speaker 1: likely to push for more support from China um and
Speaker 1: obtain more industrial, more technological imports to help fill the
Speaker 1: whole and that void of Western goods because of sanctions.
Speaker 1: On the other side of the coin, we have seen
Speaker 1: plenty of calls from Chinese officials and calls in China
Speaker 1: for Russia to do more to protect civilians in Ukraine.
Speaker 1: Is there any chance that we would see a strong
Speaker 1: pushback from Hi Jimping? I mean, what are we hearing
Speaker 1: about some sort of pushback on the aggressive nature of
Speaker 1: Russia in Ukraine? Well on the whole. Although we have
Speaker 1: seen some of those quite carefully placed comments on you know, repeating,
Speaker 1: I think mainly comments made in the past for compromise
Speaker 1: and for peaceful negotiations and more peaceful resolution. UM. I
Speaker 1: think you know, we from some of China sort of
Speaker 1: top leaders that's number three official for example, UM, it's
Speaker 1: top diplomat, we have seen more sort of comments along
Speaker 1: that promote sort of Russia that and supposedly seemed to
Speaker 1: support and back Russia. UM. I will say it is
Speaker 1: important to note that China itself, in its state media
Speaker 1: and it's sort of readouts from from diplomatic interactions, hasn't
Speaker 1: made that many explicit comments on its willingness to assist
Speaker 1: and specifically is that word assist Ukraine, although Russian readouts have, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it hasn't because it seems that the larger goal is
Speaker 1: that the two stand together countering the West absolutely, and
Speaker 1: I think that is the broader goal here, and and
Speaker 1: China itself, of course, will be very carefully treading this
Speaker 1: line between on the one hand, wanting to support that
Speaker 1: counterweight to the West account way ultimately to a US
Speaker 1: lad world order, but on the other steering very are
Speaker 1: of anything that could risk um invoking sanctions. And if
Speaker 1: you kind of look at the actions that China took
Speaker 1: initially at the outset of the war, they were quite
Speaker 1: careful to sort of severe some some of its links
Speaker 1: and some of its economic links with Russia. So we
Speaker 1: have seen this very delicate balance. Yeah, it is all right, Rebecca.
Speaker 1: Thanks very much for your insights, Rebecca. John Wilkins, Bloomberg Asia,
Speaker 1: Government and Politics corresponded