“China is simply making brooms out of Russia”: An economist explains how Beijing is using Russia
23 June 14:47
YouTube
Russia’s dependence on China has long gone beyond that of a typical trade partnership—Beijing has gained a tool with which it can dictate any terms to Moscow. This assessment was offered by economist Andriy Novak on the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to a study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Stockholm Institute for Transition Economics, China currently accounts for 35% of Russia’s foreign trade. In addition, three-quarters of the critical components needed for Russian military production are of Chinese origin.
“China doesn’t just have leverage over Russia. As the saying goes, China can now make brooms out of Russia—anything it wants. It’s making the most of the situation and simply buying up Russian resources for next to nothing—oil, gas, timber, diamonds. Everything it can,” the economist said.
According to him, Beijing is simultaneously expanding its presence within Russia itself. In some towns near the Chinese border, Novak said, the number of people with distinctive East Asian features already exceeds the number of Russians, and Chinese is heard on the streets more often than Russian.
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When asked whether this relationship could be called a mutually beneficial alliance, the economist answered with a resounding “no.”
“I wouldn’t even call it an ‘alliance.’ China is simply exploiting Russia—and exploiting this situation with no way out for Russia itself. To the maximum extent possible, and very wisely for itself,” Novak emphasized.
Using a figurative comparison, he noted that Beijing is acting according to a well-known strategy of Eastern wisdom—sitting on the riverbank and waiting for the enemy’s corpse to float past.
“Strategically, China is sitting on the riverbank and waiting for the Russian corpse to finally float past it. In principle, that’s exactly what’s happening. The corpse is already visible, already on the horizon,” the economist noted.
At the same time, according to Novak, Russia’s dependence on China opens up a certain “window of opportunity” for Ukraine’s Western partners—primarily in the negotiation process. Each new package of EU sanctions adds new tankers from the so-called “shadow fleet” to the list—a fleet Russia is using to circumvent restrictions on oil sales. This, according to the economist, increases pressure not only on Moscow but also, indirectly, on Beijing.
“In other words, on the one hand, Russia is increasingly being pushed out of the global oil and gas market. On the other hand, this serves as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China: ‘You Chinese, after all, can see that you’re helping an aggressor nation,’ Novak explained.
The economist is convinced that the world has finally ceased to be bipolar and is moving toward at least three centers of power—the U.S., China, and Europe—while Russia is falling completely out of this competition.
“Russia has already been left out of this tripolar world. And now the only question is who will take the greatest advantage of this exclusion—who will take Russia’s place in the oil and gas market. We already know who: The United States of America has become the first country to benefit from Russia’s disappearance as a geopolitical player,” he concluded.
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