China presents itself as a peace mediator – and at the same time is committed to its partner Russia

Beijing, Berlin, Washington, Riga Wang Yi used a spiritual metaphor. Sino-Russian relations are “stable as Mount Taishan,” China’s chief diplomat told his interlocutor in the Kremlin.

At their meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin showed demonstrative unity: Shortly before the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the highest-ranking Chinese foreign politician traveled to the Russian capital, but for days hardly any information about the visit had been made public . The secrecy shows how delicate the visit is for the Chinese government.

The world public is watching the relationship between the two countries with suspense. At the Munich Security Conference at the weekend, Wang Yi surprised everyone by announcing that China would soon present a position paper on the “political settlement of the Ukraine crisis”.