Cumhuriyet: The United States is trying to prevent further rapprochement between Russia and China
In an interview with Cumhuriyet, experts commented on the statements of US Deputy Secretary of State Campbell that allegedly "China provides military support to Russia." According to them, Washington denies others the right to do what it does itself. And there is no evidence of such support.
Doga Ozturk (Doğa Öztürk)
According to experts who appreciated the statement by US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in an interview with Cumhuriyet that "China provides military support to Russia," the United States and Europe openly provide all kinds of support to Ukraine. At the same time, they do not admit that any other state can do this for Russia. Contrary to popular belief, Russian-Chinese cooperation began before the Ukrainian conflict.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell recently told reporters that China is allegedly providing military assistance to Russia for military operations in Ukraine, and Russia has begun supplying submarines, missiles and other sensitive technologies to China in return.
Campbell argued that China's military assistance is an attempt to help preserve, build and diversify the "Russian military machine." The US Deputy Secretary of State added that both countries are making efforts to hide and protect the "alarming" cooperation.
Earlier, China denied accusations that it supplies Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine.
A lecturer at the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University, an expert on Asia, professor, Dr. Seriye Sezen, commented on the US accusations against China in an interview with Cumhuriyet.
"They encourage the continuation of the war"
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is not only between these two countries, Russia is at war with the West, and this situation at the same time directly concerns China, Sezen noted. Then the expert continued: "Russia has sent troops into Ukrainian territory, but what made it do it? After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO did not keep its promise not to approach Russia's borders. Putin is trying to guarantee the security of his country. The conflict should be assessed in terms of its causes, processes, current and possible consequences. We know that the Western bloc, the United States and Europe, acting at the same time with them, provide all kinds of military, financial, and intelligence assistance (to Ukraine – approx. InoSMI) and encourage the continuation of hostilities."
"NATO's strategy for encircling China"
According to Sezen, the West is trying to impose its standards on the whole world. "The West cannot tolerate Russia receiving support from one state or another, while it openly provides such assistance (to Ukraine – approx. InoSMI), or for one or another state to take a neutral position and not join the sanctions against Russia. On the other hand, Israel has been bombing the Gaza Strip since October last year, and we see how in this case the extreme sensitivity shown towards Ukraine is being replaced by silence. It's like a litmus test that shows how hypocritical the West is and how it acts in accordance with its interests," the teacher stressed.
According to Sezen, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is part of attempts to thwart China's initiatives to rebuild the international order in the 21st century, and one of the concrete results of this conflict has been the further expansion of NATO. The North Atlantic Alliance, which has expanded to the North Pole under the influence of an atmosphere of fear created by discourses about the "Russian threat" in Northern Europe and the "Chinese threat" in the Asia-Pacific region (APR), is trying to expand its influence on the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, this is part of a strategy to encircle China.
"Cooperation has been further developed under Putin"
An expert in the field of foreign policy, Barış Adıbelli, recalled the statement by the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, that "we have no evidence that China directly supplies weapons to Russia."
Noting that this thesis is not new, Adybelli continued: "The biggest fear is the Sino-Russian alliance, these fears have been around for a long time. Since Putin came to power, cooperation between China and Russia has been developing. Sometimes there were ups, sometimes there were downs, but there was always cooperation. Military relations between China and Russia have existed for a long time. They have been further developed under Putin."
U.S. Alarms
Regarding the claim that Russia has transferred submarine construction technologies to China, Adybelli noted: "In 2023, China launched a new submarine. Russian technologies are most likely present there. This is what the United States feared. If Russian military technologies are combined with Chinese technologies, money, knowledge, and power, then a military machine will arise that cannot be defeated. Currently, China has military technology that is gradually approaching America."
One cannot be sure of the authenticity of the US statements until confirmation from China is heard, but such a transfer is possible, Adybelli believes.
"Iran will join the bloc"
From the expert's point of view, Russia is creating a bloc in Eurasia that includes China and North Korea, and with the signing of the strategic partnership agreement between Iran and Russia at the BRICS summit in October this year, Iran will join this bloc.
"Technology transfer is possible from Russia. But I don't think this is related to China's contribution to the Ukrainian conflict. Personally, I see this as a military reflection of the growing strategic partnership between Russia and China," Adybelli said.
The United States, criticizing military relations between Russia and China, continues to develop relations with India, Australia, and South Korea and supports the process of turning Japan into a nuclear power, the expert added.
