China joined Russia on the list of G7 adversaries

On Thursday night, President Biden was eager to get off the stage at the Group of 7 summit, clearly somewhat upset after answering questions about Hunter Biden’s conviction and the prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza.

But at the end of his press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he couldn’t help but intervene as the Ukrainian leader spoke delicately about China’s increasingly close relationship with Russia. Biden leaned toward the microphone as soon as Zelensky finished.

“By the way, China is not supplying weapons” for the war in Ukraine, Biden said, “but rather the ability to produce those weapons and the technology available to do so.”

“So, in fact, it is helping Russia,” he said.

Throughout the Group of 7 summit in Puglia, China has been on the lookout: as the savior of “Russia’s war machine,” in the words of the summit’s final communiqué; as a growing threat in the South China Sea, and as a capricious economic player, dumping electric cars on Western markets and threatening to withhold critical minerals needed for high-tech industries.

In total, there are 28 references to China in the final statement, almost all of them describing Beijing as a malicious force.

The contrast with the image of China from just a few years ago is notable.

At previous summits, major Western economies often talked about forming alliances with Beijing to combat climate change, terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Although China was never invited to the G7 like Russia once was—Moscow joined the group in 1997 and was suspended when it annexed Crimea in 2014—Beijing was often described as a “partner,” a supplier and, above all, , a magnificent customer of all types of products, from German cars to French haute couture.

It’s not like that. This year, China and Russia have often been talked about in the same tone, and in the same threatening terms, perhaps the natural result of their deepening alliances.

A senior Biden administration official who attended the leaders’ talks at the summit, and who later briefed reporters, described a debate over China’s role that seemed to assume the relationship would become increasingly contentious. .

“As time goes on, it becomes clear that President Xi’s goal is Chinese dominance,” from trade to influence on security issues around the world, the official told reporters, who asked not to be named after describe private conversations.

But it was China’s support for Russia that was a new element at this year’s summit, and perhaps changed opinions in Europe. The issue of China’s role was barely raised at the previous two summits and, when it was, it was often about the influence of its top leader, Xi Jinping, as a moderating force over President Vladimir Putin, especially when there were fears that Putin could detonate a nuclear weapon on Ukrainian territory.

This time, the tone was very different, starting with the statement itself.

“We will continue to take action against actors in China and other countries that materially support Russia’s war machine,” the leaders’ statement said, “including financial institutions, consistent with our legal systems, and other entities in China that facilitate acquisition by Russia of items for its defense industrial base.”

The United States had insisted on including that language and was pressing allies to emulate Biden’s action earlier this week, when the Treasury Department issued a series of new sanctions designed to disrupt growing technological ties between Russia and China. But so far, few of the other G7 countries have taken similar steps.

Within the Biden administration, there is a growing belief that Xi’s view of China’s role in the war in Ukraine has changed in the past year, and that he will increasingly support Putin, with whom he has declared a “partnership.” unlimited”.

Just a few months ago, most government officials considered this claim hyperbole, and even Biden, in public comments, expressed doubt that the two countries could overcome their enormous mutual misgivings to work together.

That view has changed, with some government officials saying they believe Beijing was also working to dissuade countries from participating in a peace conference hosted by Zelensky. More than 90 countries will attend the conference in Switzerland this weekend, but Russia will not participate. China, which a year ago expressed interest in a variety of ceasefire and peace plans, has said it will not attend either.

In the opinion of Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, China now opposes any peace effort in which it cannot be the central actor.

“Xi, it seems, will not abandon his problematic Russian partner, nor will he even have rhetoric to help Kiev,” Gabuev wrote in Foreign Affairs on Friday. “Instead, China has opted for a more ambitious, but also riskier, approach. She will continue to help Moscow and sabotage Western peace proposals. He hopes to then swoop in and use her influence over Russia to bring both sides to the table in an attempt to negotiate a permanent agreement.”

U.S. officials at the summit said they largely agreed with Gabuev’s assessment but doubted China had the diplomatic experience to make it work.

But the change of opinion on China went far beyond the questions raised about the outcome of the situation in Ukraine. European countries, which a few years ago were concerned that the United States was being too belligerent toward China, signed on to the statement this year, with its calls for stronger Western supply chains that are less dependent on Chinese companies.

Implicitly, the jointly issued statement also accused China of a series of major cyberattacks on US and European critical infrastructure, urged China to “remain committed to acting responsibly in cyberspace,” and pledged to “continue our efforts to disrupt and deter persistent and malicious cyberactivity from China, which threatens the security and privacy of our citizens, undermines innovation and puts our critical infrastructures at risk.”

That reference to infrastructure seemed to be linked to a Chinese program that the United States calls “Volt Typhoon.” U.S. intelligence officials have described it as a sophisticated effort by China to place Chinese-created malware into the water systems, power grids and port operations of the United States and its allies.

In testimony before Congress and in interviews, Biden administration officials have charged that the real goal of the malicious program is to gain the ability to disrupt vital services in the United States amid a crisis in Taiwan, slowing the US military response and unleashing the chaos among Americans, who would be more concerned about getting water back than maintaining Taiwan’s independence. © The New York Times 2024

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