Changes

The [[NATO war in Ukraine]] brought [[Moscow]] and [[Beijing]] closer together for the first time since the days of [[Mao]] and [[Stalin]].<ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/war-in-ukraine-needs-to-be-understood-in-context-of-new-russia-china-alliance/ War in Ukraine Needs to Be Understood in Context of New Russia-China Alliance], By Alfred W. McCoy , ''TOM DISPATCH'', March 10, 2022. truthout.org. First published in TomDispatch https://tomdispatch.com/the-geopolitics-of-the-ukraine-war/</ref> [[Biden]] and those who come after him are unlikely to be able to make a division, as [[Nixon]] did in 1972.<ref>[https://archive.is/ioghJ#selection-437.0-605.14 This Is the Russia-China Friendship That Nixon Feared], By Farah Stockman, ''[[New York Times]]'', Feb. 20, 2022. </ref><ref>[https://archive.is/70KJw Fifty Years After Nixon’s Visit, China Tilts Back Toward Russia], James T. Areddy, ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', Feb. 26, 2022.</ref> Former Presidential briefer [[Ray McGovern]] chronicled how  

The [[NATO war in Ukraine]] brought [[Moscow]] and [[Beijing]] closer together for the first time since the days of [[Mao]] and [[Stalin]].<ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/war-in-ukraine-needs-to-be-understood-in-context-of-new-russia-china-alliance/ War in Ukraine Needs to Be Understood in Context of New Russia-China Alliance], By Alfred W. McCoy , ''TOM DISPATCH'', March 10, 2022. truthout.org. First published in TomDispatch https://tomdispatch.com/the-geopolitics-of-the-ukraine-war/</ref> [[Biden]] and those who come after him are unlikely to be able to make a division, as [[Nixon]] did in 1972.<ref>[https://archive.is/ioghJ#selection-437.0-605.14 This Is the Russia-China Friendship That Nixon Feared], By Farah Stockman, ''[[New York Times]]'', Feb. 20, 2022. </ref><ref>[https://archive.is/70KJw Fifty Years After Nixon’s Visit, China Tilts Back Toward Russia], James T. Areddy, ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', Feb. 26, 2022.</ref> Former Presidential briefer [[Ray McGovern]] chronicled how  

:''"as [[Biden]] took office in 2021, his advisers assured him that he could play on [[Russia]]'s fear (sic) of [[China]] – and drive a wedge between them. This represents the ‘mother of all errors’ of judgement, because it brings about the circumstances in which the [[New World Order|western ‘Order’]] may dissolve”. “This [presumption of Russian weakness] became embarrassingly clear when Biden said to [[Putin]] during their [[Geneva]] summit in June 2021 … let me ask a rhetorical question: ‘You got a multi-thousand-mile border with China. China is seeking to be the most powerful [[economy]] in the world and the largest and the most powerful [[military]] in the world’.” McGovern observes that this meeting gave Putin clear confirmation that Biden and his advisers were stuck in a woefully outdated appraisal of Russia-China relations. Here is the bizarre way Biden described his approach to Putin on China: At the airport after the summit, Biden’s aides did their best to whisk him onto the plane but failed to stop him from sharing more ‘wisdom’ on China: “Russia is in a very, very difficult spot right now. They are being squeezed by China”. ‘Yes’: More of the same! Biden was trying, on the advice of his experts, to insert the ubiquitous [[Western alliance|western ‘wedge’]] between Russia and a ‘BIG’ China.<ref>[https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/17/ray-mcgovern-russia-china-two-against-one/ RAY McGOVERN: Russia & China — Two Against One], Ray McGovern, ''Consortium News]], May 17, 2024. consortiumnews.com</ref>

:''"as [[Biden]] took office in 2021, his advisers assured him that he could play on [[Russia]]'s fear (sic) of [[China]] – and drive a wedge between them. This represents the ‘mother of all errors’ of judgement, because it brings about the circumstances in which the [[New World Order|western ‘Order’]] may dissolve”. “This [presumption of Russian weakness] became embarrassingly clear when Biden said to [[Putin]] during their [[Geneva]] summit in June 2021 … let me ask a rhetorical question: ‘You got a multi-thousand-mile border with China. China is seeking to be the most powerful [[economy]] in the world and the largest and the most powerful [[military]] in the world’.” McGovern observes that this meeting gave Putin clear confirmation that Biden and his advisers were stuck in a woefully outdated appraisal of Russia-China relations. Here is the bizarre way Biden described his approach to Putin on China: At the airport after the summit, Biden’s aides did their best to whisk him onto the plane but failed to stop him from sharing more ‘wisdom’ on China: “Russia is in a very, very difficult spot right now. They are being squeezed by China”. ‘Yes’: More of the same! Biden was trying, on the advice of his experts, to insert the ubiquitous [[Western alliance|western ‘wedge’]] between Russia and a ‘BIG’ China.''<ref>[https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/17/ray-mcgovern-russia-china-two-against-one/ RAY McGOVERN: Russia & China — Two Against One], Ray McGovern, ''Consortium News]], May 17, 2024. consortiumnews.com</ref>

After these remarks, Putin and [[Xi]] spent the rest of 2021 trying to disabuse Biden of the “China squeeze” [[meme]]: This mutual effort culminated in the Xi-Putin ‘no limits’ friendship summit of that year. If the advisers had been paying attention however, they would have threaded a long history of Russo-Chinese [[rapprochement]]. But no, they were [[ideological]]ly frozen in the view that the two were destined to be eternal enemies.

After these remarks, Putin and [[Xi]] spent the rest of 2021 trying to disabuse Biden of the “China squeeze” [[meme]]: This mutual effort culminated in the Xi-Putin ‘no limits’ friendship summit of that year. If the advisers had been paying attention however, they would have threaded a long history of Russo-Chinese [[rapprochement]]. But no, they were [[ideological]]ly frozen in the view that the two were destined to be eternal enemies.