Expert: China is trying to confirm relations with Belarus, Russia for the long run

MINSK, 27 March (BelTA) - China is trying to confirm the nature of relations with Belarus and Russia over long time horizon, Asian studies specialist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Aleksei Maslov said in an interview to ONT TV channel, BelTA has learned.

According to Aleksei Maslov, the talks between Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were not accidentally held before the negotiations of the Chinese president with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. “Beijing never hides its plans. We just cannot read them between the lines. At the recent meeting between the Russian and Chinese leaders, it was no coincidence that Xi Jinping said that relations between the two countries go beyond bilateral cooperation. In fact, it is very important for Beijing to see that the proposals, the geopolitical ideas that it puts forward, are shared not only by Russia. They are shared by a group of countries. Belarus occupies an important part in this case. That is why the talks were at first held between Aleksandr Lukashenko and Xi Jinping, because it was important, I think, to clarify the attitude of Belarus, its position on political issues. This also includes the economic agenda,” the expert said.

Belarus is an important part of the space that China wants to build around itself in order to comfortably promote its ideas, Aleksei Maslov emphasized. “By the way, China is showing the same in relation to Russia. China is trying to confirm the nature of such relations for the long run. This is of crucial importance, because everyone wants to understand how the relations will develop in some 10-15 years,” the professor stressed.

The visit of the Belarusian president to Beijing puzzled the United States. There was also a visit of the head of the People's Republic of China to Moscow. According to Aleksei Maslov, such signals frighten official Washington. “Washington would like to present the situation quite differently. That there is a single western coalition with its unified approach, and there are separate countries - Russia, China and Belarus that can trade with each other, but they will never agree on politics. Moreover, they say, China is not going to make agreements, because it is too arrogant, and other countries cannot bear such an attitude to themselves,” he said.

However, as the expert noted, it turned out that the countries move from declarations to real projects. “In this case, I am also talking about the Belarusian-Chinese relations. They continue developing. Most importantly, Washington cares about one simple thing. If now there is a deep military-technical coalition between Russia, Belarus, and China, and possibly other countries, then it turns out that without any signing of a formal military alliance, the countries are strengthening the power of the giant region by the perimeter. It is no coincidence that Beijing constantly stresses that in addition to bilateral relations, we are developing relations within the SCO, BRICS, and so on. This, in my opinion, is what is starting to worry Washington, that the world map is being seriously redrawn,” the expert underlined.