China being has been helpful (“pragmatic”) over Ukraine

Click above for vid

Cindy Yu asks Owen Matthews and Emma Ashford if it’s possible that there could be “back channels” between Washington and Beijing. 

As a retired foreign affairs type, posted in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, I say “of course there are back channels”. They are called “diplomacy”. That’s what diplomats do. They are every day, every hour, in contact with their own governments and that of their hosts. That’s what they do.

The deal struck in March 2022 was: China to US: don’t allow Poland to give the strike jets to Ukraine and we (China) won’t support Russia. 

That’s been helpful. To keep the nuclear option at bay. “To keep the nuclear dimension at bay”. Because they want to keep it out of Taiwan.  

Imagine if China had supported Russia with arms. Not saying it hasn’t by other back channels. But it hasn’t in obvious ways. And Putin has been kept on the back foot because of that.