China should reflect on its relationship with Russia when dealing with containment by the US-led Western countries, a Chinese expert said as Beijing comes under pressure for its perceived support of Moscow in the Ukraine war.
The academic made the comments during a virtual forum hosted by Renmin University of China's National Academy of Development and Strategy on Friday.
Liu Weidong, a research fellow at the institute of American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), argued that Moscow had tried to "take advantage" of Beijing, both before and after the start of the war in Ukraine.
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"It is pursuing unilateral use of China, and it does not want to be used by China," he said.
"What we seek is win-win cooperation under the premise of non-alignment," Liu said, adding he wondered whether this win-win cooperation could be achieved.
He said the Biden administration was trying to link the two countries together on various issues to induce an alliance between Beijing and Moscow. If such an alliance were to be established, it would ultimately result in "mutual exhaustion rather than cooperation", Liu said.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put the "no limits" friendship between Beijing and Moscow under the microscope, and China is facing mounting pressure for its refusal to condemn Russia.
China does not recognise Crimea or four other annexed regions of Ukraine as Russian territory, but the war and ensuing Western sanctions against Russia have not stopped ties between the two neighbours from moving closer in various areas.
Two-way trade between China and Russia remained strong during the first five months of the year, with the value surging by 40.7 per cent from a year earlier, while trade between the US and China - the world's two largest economies - shrank by 12.3 per cent, according to the latest Chinese customs data, released last Wednesday.
On the military side, senior officials of the two countries agreed to hold more joint drills just days after joint air patrols by Chinese and Russian forces near South Korea and Japan.
Zuo Xiying, professor of international relations at Renmin University, said China should balance its relationship with Russia as a way to counteract Washington's strategy of uniting its allies to contain Beijing.