China\u2019s handling of the Putin-engineered annexation of Crimea from Ukraine into the Russian Federation reflects deeply competing Chinese interests. On the one hand, Beijing values its strategic partnership with Russia \u2014 a partnership tracing back to 1996 \u2014 especially now, when Sino-U.S. relations are tense over the intertwined issues of Washington\u2019s \u201cpivot\u201d to Asia and Chinese cyber-espionage against U.S. advanced weapons research and development. In Washington there is a growing sense that the military gap between China and the U.S. is narrowing rapidly because of Chinese cyber-penetration of U.S. military-industrial firms and approaching a transition point between rising and incumbent paramount powers, which may be especially dangerous. Japan under Shinzo Abe\u2019s second government (in office since December 2012) also has begun courting India with unprecedented vigor. Even more startling, New Delhi is responding with an unembarrassed embrace of Tokyo. Beijing\u2019s trump card of \u201cthe history issue\u201d does not play very well in New Delhi. Given these elemental shifts in the balance of power that are in play, Beijing has no interest in loosening its strategic partnership with Russia. In terms of energy supply, a falloff in European purchases of Soviet natural gas also would not be bad for China, perhaps prompting Moscow to offer China lower prices, easing one of the hurdles to expanded Russo-Chinese energy cooperation over the past decade or so.<\/p>\n
These interests may explain why China has decided to call in a $3 billion loan to Ukraine in late February1<\/a><\/sup>. If China stands by this demand for Ukrainian repayment of this loan as Kiev faces mounting Russian pressure and economic difficulties, this would represent substantial, if low-keyed Chinese support for Moscow in this crisis.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Beijing has long-standing and strongly felt taboos against foreign interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states and secession of territories within sovereign states on the basis of popular elections. Since the end of the Cold War, China has emerged as a staunch defender of strong state sovereignty norms, opposing attempts by one state to bring about political changes within another. This preference for strong state sovereignty norms is rooted in Beijing\u2019s apprehensions regarding Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang and fears that \u201cthe West led by the United States\u201d2<\/a><\/sup> might attempt to detach one or all of those regions from the PRC, using the pretext of popular will and elections. From Beijing\u2019s perspective, this was what \u201cthe West led by the United States\u201d did first with the Baltic republics of the declining USSR, and then with ex-Communist Yugoslavia. Thus, if Beijing openly endorsed Putin\u2019s seizure of the Crimea, it would open China to charges of hypocrisy. Such charges could be influential with Western public opinion, which is the main target of China\u2019s defense of state sovereignty norms.<\/p>\n In line with these interests, Beijing abstained in the U.N. Security Council when Britain, France, and the United States proposed a resolution condemning the Russian-organized referendum on Crimean secession from Ukraine and entry into the Russian Federation. President Barack Obama telephoned President Xi Jinping before the Security Council vote on March 16 to lobby for China to vote \u201cyes\u201d on the Western-backed proposal.3<\/a><\/sup> Instead China merely abstained, allowing Russia\u2019s veto alone to kill the condemnatory proposal. This was a marked departure from the close cooperation of Moscow and Beijing on a score of issues before the Security Council since the mid-1990s. It also allowed Western powers to claim that Russia was isolated. More important for Beijing, it allowed China to evade endorsement of foreign intervention in another state\u2019s internal affairs and succession of territories on the basis of popular will and elections. In terms of formal declared position, Beijing has called for resolution of differences through peaceful discussion and dialogue, and for respect for Ukrainian sovereignty. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said on March 4:<\/p>\n \u201cWe uphold the principle of non-interference in others\u2019 internal affairs and respect international law and widely recognized norms governing international relations. Meanwhile we take into account the historical facts and realistic complexity of the Ukrainian issue\u201d4<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n