China’s Pro-Russian Neutrality Position in the Ukraine Crisis as Part of Its “Hybrid” Confrontation with the West

Abstract

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 consolidated the West which seeks to secure the Putin regime’s strategic defeat in Ukraine. While refraining from a direct support of the Kremlin, China has demonstrated throughout this conflict a “pro-Russian neutrality” declaring a “no limits partnership” with Moscow which might result in a new bipolar confrontation between the West and the non-Western power centre with China and Russia on top of it. Being unable to directly confront the consolidated West, Beijing and Moscow have embarked on the path of a hybrid warfare strategy to modify America’s hegemonic behaviour by shifting global normative narratives, delegitimising the US leadership in the eyes of the broader international community and gaining support among the countries of the Global South.