Now China has also taken off its mask.

According to Sari Arho Havrén, China's talks about Europe's security architecture should be taken into account more seriously than they are at present. Theory Monas

China's cooperation with Russia is deepening beyond business ties and rhetoric. The news was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yin with.

Foreign ministers met earlier in the week in the Chinese capital, Beijing. The topic of discussion is the Russian News Agency Tassin According to the Eurasian Defense Cooperation, the agreement follows the principle of “dual deterrence” in response to the “dual deterrence” of the West.

The term dual deterrence is commonly used to describe the situation in Taiwan. A Chinese researcher in charge of geopolitical forecasting in Business Finland Sari Arho Haurenin In this context the meaning is different.

– I see this as related to China and Russia being blocked by Europe and increasingly the Indo-Pacific region. It's hard to say what exactly this means.

The Indo-Pacific region refers to the region extending from the tropical parts of the Indian Ocean to the central and western parts of the Pacific Ocean.

China and Russia join forces against the West

China's relationship with Russia has long been strong in the form of trade and shared rhetoric. The present report indicates that ties have deepened in public security policy as well. How concrete a threat does China now pose to the West?

– Even though Western countries talk rhetorically that they are “downward” or “retreating” and at the same time they do not believe that NATO's deterrence is dignified, in this reaction we can see that NATO's deterrence is taken seriously, Arho Havren answers.

According to the analyst, the US, the most important member of NATO, continues to strengthen its relations with countries around China.

It is not only about defense cooperation, but there is also an effort to reduce the dependence of other countries on China in the field of technology, for example, in the defense dimension.

The US is involved with Australia and Britain in the AUKUS military cooperation agreement. An informal answer China's influence is growing.

– With the AUKUS agreement, the involvement of Britain in addition to the US is seen as such a close cooperation of Western democracies towards Russia and China.

Europe is to blame for the war in Ukraine

According to Arho Havrén, Eurasia and security architecture included in the discussions have long been on China's agenda.

– This is a point in China's global security initiative, one of the pillars of how China builds the future world order. China has said that Europe's security structure is the root cause of the war in Ukraine.

According to China, things will be fixed by restructuring this security framework to take into account the other side's security concerns. Russia has used similar rhetoric to justify its war in Ukraine.

– China's position here is very clear. It supports Russia's position in Europe. This is the security framework that these two parties seek for Europe. It should be taken more seriously than we currently take it, warns Arho Havrén.

As far as China is concerned, this rhetoric is reflected in its own initiatives, for example, in the situation with Taiwan and in strengthening its aggression in the South China Sea. China continues to have conflicts with the Philippines in the region.

– China has drawn their own lines. Current tensions with the Philippines are related to China's attempts to permanently secure those areas for itself.

Now the masks on China's faces have also been removed

China has traditionally defended the sovereignty of states and opposed interference by other countries in the internal affairs of independent states.

The first paragraph of China's 2023 peace plan for the Ukraine war also reminds us to respect the sovereignty of states and international law.

However, China has never directly condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine.

According to Arho Havrén, the peace plan is ultimately in line with Russia's ideas, and he points out that China's close trade relationship with Russia will help it in its war against Ukraine.

– China continues to test how far it can help Russia with dual-use technologies and other spare parts without incurring sanctions that Russia could use to its advantage in the Ukraine war.

So China is currently repositioning itself in the world political arena and to what extent has the situation in Ukraine changed the country's foreign policy and its fundamental pillars?

Arho Havrén describes China's transformation in the same way that former Finnish president Sauli Niinisto described Russia after attacking Ukraine. At that point, Putin “took off his mask,” Niinisto said.

– In my opinion, the situation has somewhat clarified what China's global security goals are and what the country's vision of the world order and European security architecture is. From our point of view, perhaps those masks have now fallen off our faces.