A firefighter holds the child of a refugee fleeing Ukraine the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing in Romania, March 25, 2022. Credit: Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo
Considering the fact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came just 20 days after Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that their friendship has "no limits," many observers see China as a crucial player in the ongoing war. And with Russia reportedly asking for military aid from China and the U.S. repeatedly leaking intelligence that seems to put pressure on China, some analysts have suggested that the Russia-Ukraine war could become a new proxy war in the U.S.-China rivalry.
With so many variables at play, as well as both competing and aligning interests, the calculus for the world’s two biggest powers is extremely complicated. In the month since the invasion, the U.S. has led the charge on sweeping sanctions against Russia, severely crippling its economy and its access to international companies and finance. China, for its part, seems to be abiding by the sanctions even as its state-run media mimics Russian propaganda narratives about the war
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with Wang Wentao, the Chinese Commerce Minister, in Washington. It marked the first cabinet-level meeting in Washington between the U.S. and China during the Biden administration, and it was a signal of the Commerce Department’s increasingly central role in the current U.S.-China relationship. Usually, the Commerce Department is far from the center of anything, but as Katrina Northrop reports, the department is uniquely suited to address the China challenge.
The lawyer and author talks about the attack on a train in the 1920s which created an international incident, the rise of the Communist Party and the conditions for foreign media in China today.
