Not just the EU, but also NATO.EU is highly hostile against China, some EU countries have threatened to attack China, and there is suspicion that they would aid US in the event US decided to commit a full scale invasion of China. Aiding Russian revanchism in Europe is a fair counter to Europeans aiding American revanchism in Asia.
NATO's secretary general said days ago that China is a threat to the alliance's security. NATO clearly states that China is not an enemy, but its actions tell another story. For example, they openly talk about confiscating infrastructure assets that China financed and built in Europe:
Strategically, China had incentives to divide European support for Ukraine, separating Europe from the US and/or dividing Europe itself, an approach it already pursued before Russia's invasion.
Still, China's political stance on the invasion, which essentially blamed NATO and the Americans for the invasion, further alienated many European states that were already reconsidering their future relations with China and highlighted the opposition that China might face in a war for Taiwan.
Beijing may hope that Europe will be less committed to joining a coalition to support Taiwan, which some recent polls support. However, the deepening of the Russia-China relationship through the "unlimited partnership" is further hardening European views on the risks of a Taiwan conflict, especially as the war drags on and if Beijing begins to supply to Russia.
The interesting thing about the Chinese strategy is that the States that are interested in punishing Russia represent a minority of States in the international system. Furthermore, fewer than ten states, all in Europe or North America, provided the majority of military and economic aid. The war in Ukraine has had a negative impact on many developing countries through inflation, especially with regard to food prices. Many of the most important regional powers – such as South Africa and India – abstained from voting on UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia's actions. India has now become the largest importer of Russian oil, overtaking China. Advanced industrialized democracies may be united around opposing and punishing Russia, but much of the world probably just wants the conflict to end, and this is particularly encouraging for China, which may see an opening to attack Taiwan while based on this thinking, many believe that China could still invade this year.
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