Xi Jinping supports Putin with all his might, as was evident during the Kremlin chief’s visit to China. Beijing claims to be neutral in the Ukraine war. It is now becoming clear what Xi’s real goals are.

Nobody outside the Kremlin is happier about the fact that the Russian army is gaining ground in Ukraine than Chinese leader Xi Jinping. During Putin’s visit to Beijing, he once again showed himself to be his best friend and supported him with all his might.

The external reason for the meeting was the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. The joy over the bond didn’t last long; Mao and Khrushchev clashed over ideological issues. Things don’t look like that between Putin and Xi.

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Although Beijing has always claimed to be neutral when it comes to the Ukraine war, this has never been true. Xi and his nomenklatura adopted the Kremlin’s rhetoric, spoke of a special operation and called NATO the cause of the war. A ten-point peace plan proposed by Beijing bore the clear signature of the Kremlin and required the attacked Ukraine to give up territory to the aggressor. The paper was rightly rejected across the free world.

At the same time, however, it was true that political leaders from Kiev to Washington believed that China had to be brought on board if they wanted to end the war in Europe. But Xi Jinping did not and does not think about helping the Europeans.

During Chancellor Scholz’s visit to China, it became clear, just as it did during Xi’s visit to Europe last week, that the People’s Republic does not intend to make even one iota of concessions to what he sees as the old colonial masters. China’s automotive industry is on the road to global success thanks to government subsidies and technology theft. If this damages the European and American auto industry, Beijing can only be happy with it.

At their meeting, Putin and Xi expressed confidence that the Ukraine war could be ended through negotiations. The boost to the Russian army now gives Putin and Xi the opportunity to advance Russian interests. This should include that the illegally separated parts of Ukraine should remain with Moscow and that Ukraine must declare neutrality and not be allowed to join NATO.

The lines are thinned, a democratic country like Ukraine cannot burn its youth like a dictator. Putin, in turn, has sent members of ethnic minorities and convicts to war and suppresses any criticism of his war with the threat of long prison sentences. Furthermore, it is anything but clear whether the USA will send military aid to the attacked country again.

Given these circumstances, people in Kiev will consider whether they might give negotiations a chance. So far, China has not confirmed its participation in a peace conference in Switzerland to which Russia is not invited. In the joint statement in Beijing, Xi and Putin reiterated that there will be no peace without taking Russian interests into account.

Putin has Xi to thank for Moscow’s ability to hold out to this point. He bought cheap oil from Russia and, in conjunction with North Korea and Iran, circumvented the sanctions against Russia. The axis of the terrible of Tehran, Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow has been established and consolidated by Putin’s war.

This alliance may have been the overarching goal of Xi, whose country does not pursue its own interests in Ukraine. In return, Beijing gets Russian military technology that it does not have itself, which is intended to help Xi’s imperial ambitions in potential wars against Taiwan, the Philippines or India.

Xi is playing a similar game when it comes to Ukraine as in the Middle East. Beijing wants to keep the wars going and only pays lip service to solutions. His goal is to keep the United States and its allies busy so that he can mobilize his army and prepare it for the major war that Beijing could launch at any time in the Western Pacific. What unites Putin and Xi, the mullahs and the Kim regime is their hatred of the USA and Europe, their contempt for freedom and human rights.

Without China, there will be no negotiations with Russia over Ukraine. Beijing will do everything it can to appear like a neutral actor. But Xi will be the big puller who wants to use this success to make it clear to Washington that the American era is over.

Alexander Görlach is an honorary professor of ethics at Leuphana University in Lüneburg and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York. After a stay in Taiwan and Hong Kong, he focused on the rise of China and what it means for democracies in East Asia in particular. From 2009 to 2015, Alexander Görlach was also the publisher and editor-in-chief of the debate magazine The European, which he founded. Today he is a columnist and author for various media. He lives in New York and Berlin.