Andrew Bolt: Russia’s ‘no limits’ friendship now a crisis for China

Xi Jinping’s unprincipled deal with Vladimir Putin has made China an enemy of the world. Now he needs to watch his back.

Every dictatorship as nasty as China’s has people like Hua Chunying, its assistant foreign minister. Nice face, rotten heart. Great liar and, now, shocking hypocrite.

Hua has been tweeting manically to justify China’s support for Russia, even as it murders thousands of Ukrainians.

How dare we in the West sanction Russia for its invasion, Hua spluttered. How dare we threaten to sanction China, too, if it agrees to Russia’s plea for more weapons and financial help.

“Some in the US have been brandishing sanctions again in an attempt to intimidate China,” blustered Hua. “They should know this: sanctions are a double-edged sword and a boomerang.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying has been tweeting manically to justify China’s support for Russia, even as it murders thousands of Ukrainians. Picture: AFP

How could she type the word “boomerang” without thinking – oops! – Australia?

Ms Hua, you hypocrite: your dictator Xi Jinping has himself hit Australia with all kinds of sanctions – trade bans – to intimidate us. And you’re right, it’s boomeranged, making many Australians realise China is a menacing power and we must resist it.

But Hua’s fury shows something else has boomeranged – Xi’s support for Russia is turning into his most colossal mistake.

For decades China’s leadership followed the command of supreme leader Deng Xiaoping to “hide capabilities, bide time”. Don’t scare the world with China’s growing power.

Xi is the first Chinese leader to tear up that advice. He figured the West was now too weak and China too strong to care if we got scared.

Now was China’s time. And to prove it, Xi last month signed a manifesto with Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring there was now a “redistribution of power” away from the US.

The two authoritarians declared a friendship with “no limits”, and three weeks later Putin sent his tanks into Ukraine. Now, with that war going badly, Putin is reportedly asking China for weapons and protection from the West’s sanctions.

Putin is reportedly asking China for weapons and protection from the West’s sanctions, which is a crisis for Xi Jinping.

This is a crisis for Xi. If he dumps Russia, he’ll show his word is worthless and his deal with Putin a massive misjudgment.

If he gives Russia more help, China could suffer sanctions, too, just when its share market is struggling, and its massive real estate sector teetering on bankruptcy. Either way, Xi has hurt China badly. His unprincipled deal with Putin proved China is a threat to democracies everywhere.

He’s made China an enemy of the world.

What his colleagues make of it, who knows? Do they even have the power to depose him?

But for now, Hua still parrots Xi’s lies. And Xi should watch his back.