Harry Kazianis, an expert on US foreign policy and national security, has claimed that Russia is in fact in danger of becoming a “Chinese colony”.
In an interview with Express, he said that after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, China “bought as much as it could get” and would “love” to follow this “plan” for years to come, as Russia became increasingly desperate.
ECONOMIC DECREASE
There are growing concerns about an economic collapse in Russia as the ruble has lost more than a quarter of its value since the invasion of Ukraine and hit an all-time low of 120 against the US dollar earlier this month.
CHINA CAN SEE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY
Kazianis, an analyst at the US think tank Center of National Interest, also claimed that President Xi Jinping wanted to gain “a foothold in Russia” and could leverage the Kremlin’s vulnerability to gain access to its advanced military technology.
Kazianis used the following statements in his statement;
“Even if Putin pulls all his troops out of Ukraine today, the sanctions are not lifted. If it survives economically, it will have to become a colony of China at this point. It is the only way it will get the financial support it needs to survive. And it is not certain that the Chinese will want to do that. It’s a really bad situation. It’s in their interest as long as the war doesn’t go nuclear. I think the Chinese would like to try to get as much space in Russia as possible.
“THEY DID THAT WHEN THE SOVIETS DOWN”
That’s what they did when the Soviet Union collapsed, and that’s why China is the current superpower. They bought as much as they could from what was left of the Soviet Union, and now the United States and its allies face a Chinese army that has bought and developed all of the best Soviet equipment. So they want to follow that plan again.
Kazianis said Chinese leaders should also consider the “reputation damage” that would result from a partnership with Russia. “They don’t seem to care what other people think, they probably don’t care what their own people think,” Kazianis said.