He probably put it more diplomatically, I’m guessing he might’ve reminded Kallas of her braying how they need to defeat Russia so they can take on China.
Here’s the article about it from Chinese Foreign Ministry, it did gloss over the interesting parts but it looks like it was just the usual “we want to live in peace and friendship with everyone” and the evil witch Kallas embellished it.
That tracks, there’s no real benefit for China to come out and declare open support for Russia here. That said, I do think that SCMP article is the most honest description of China’s actual position even if China won’t state it directly in those terms. Russia losing in Ukraine would be a disaster for China because it would destabilize Russia politically, and potentially open it up for some sort of a regime change operation by the west. At that point China would be surrounded militarily, and cut off from critical resources that Russia provides. So, logically, China has a huge vested interest in Russia prevailing in the war and continuing to be a reliable ally for China.
Did he really said all those things though? Kallas is not very trustworthy and “sources” adjacent to her even less.
He probably put it more diplomatically, I’m guessing he might’ve reminded Kallas of her braying how they need to defeat Russia so they can take on China.
Here’s the article about it from Chinese Foreign Ministry, it did gloss over the interesting parts but it looks like it was just the usual “we want to live in peace and friendship with everyone” and the evil witch Kallas embellished it.
That tracks, there’s no real benefit for China to come out and declare open support for Russia here. That said, I do think that SCMP article is the most honest description of China’s actual position even if China won’t state it directly in those terms. Russia losing in Ukraine would be a disaster for China because it would destabilize Russia politically, and potentially open it up for some sort of a regime change operation by the west. At that point China would be surrounded militarily, and cut off from critical resources that Russia provides. So, logically, China has a huge vested interest in Russia prevailing in the war and continuing to be a reliable ally for China.