{"id":11376,"date":"2022-03-15T18:27:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T15:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/minsk-attempts-to-boost-ties-with-china-to-offset-western-sanctions-analysis\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"minsk-attempts-to-boost-ties-with-china-to-offset-western-sanctions-analysis","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11376\/","title":{"rendered":"Minsk attempts to boost ties with China to offset Western sanctions \u2013 analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Minsk seeks to strengthen ties with China to mitigate the effect of Western sanctions for its role in Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing takes a pragmatic approach and is unlikely to provide aid for free, experts say.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka on March 14 told Xie Xiaoyong, the Chinese ambassador in Minsk, that Minsk would like to discuss additional \u201cways of cooperation\u201d in view of the recent developments in the region.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He stressed that he did not expect China to \u201ctake some responsibility or lose anything.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka has visited China 12 times during his rule spanning more than a quarter of the century. He has praised China\u2019s economic system and sought strategic partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation with Beijing.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t China has always been pragmatic, and its approach is unlikely to change.\n<\/p>\n

BelGee suspends operation<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Arsien Sivicki, head of the Minsk-based Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies and founder of the Sarmat AnalitiX consulting company, said that Luka\u0161enka\u2019s meeting with the ambassador was linked to disruptions in the operation of BelGee, a Belarusian-Chinese car assembly plant located between the cities of Barysa\u016d and \u017dodzina, Minsk region.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t BelGee cited supply chain disruptions but Sivicki noted that the real reason for suspending operation might be Western sanctions.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Chinese interests in Belarus have been affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine, he told BPN. Beijing initially hoped that Belarus would be an industrial and logistical hub for the One Belt One Road initiative and that it will facilitate China\u2019s trade with Europe. However, a number of Western companies have pulled out of the Great Stone, a Chinese-Belarusian industrial park outside Minsk, he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Chinese companies fear of secondary Western sanctions, he added.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarus\u2019 alliance with Russia against Ukraine and the West contravenes the philosophy of Chinese-Belarusian cooperation, Sivicki said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cSome actors, including Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka, think that since China does not care about human rights, it will subsidize authoritarian and aggressive regimes. It won\u2019t,\u201d said Lie\u016d \u0139vo\u016dski, of the Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center. Beijing may ignore human rights but it will not miss out on profits, he added.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The European Union and the United States are China\u2019s major trading partners, and therefore Beijing will heed their interests rather than help Vladimir Putin and Luka\u0161enka, he stressed.\n<\/p>\n

Imports and goods from China<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka signed a directive in December 2021 to boost Belarus\u2019 exports to China to at least $2 billion in 2025. The directive encourages Belarusian companies to borrow at least $500 million from Chinese investment funds and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The government planned to take out at least $300 million in loans from China to repay its debts.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The plan was unrealistic before the war, and it looks even more unrealistic now, \u0139vo\u016dski said. Since Belarus is not working to facilitate trade between China and Europe, it makes no sense for Beijing to invest in Belarus, he noted.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarusian companies are looking at China as a supplier of high-tech goods that can substitute for high-tech imports from the West. Some Chinese companies with a presence in Europe and the United States would not risk their reputation, he said. Other companies may be willing to supply goods to Belarus, but they may raise prices because of a lack of competition.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarus may redirect some of its exports from Europe to China, which already buys Belarusian timber. But China is not a premium market, \u0139vo\u016dski said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Beijing suspended lending programs for Belarus after a wave of protests in 2020. It is unlikely to reopen those programs now, he noted.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t China may benefit from Belarus\u2019 current problems but it is unlikely to extend its helping hand, \u0139vo\u016dski said.\n<\/p>\n

Ties with China may weaken<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Economists were concerned about the grim outlook for Belarus\u2019 economic ties with China even before the Russian-Ukrainian war.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarus\u2019 hostility with the European Union, the United States and other countries and sectoral sanctions against Minsk may affect projects involving Chinese investments and targeting Western countries and partners, Volha Kulaj, of the Minsk Dialogue think tank linked to the Belarusian foreign ministry, said in December 2021.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Many governments have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Minsk for its role in Russia\u2019s military campaign against Ukraine. The Russian and Belarusian regimes have pitched themselves against the Western world, with which China would like to maintain pragmatic ties.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Beijing seems to be losing interest in Belarus. If it does not respond to Minsk\u2019s overtures in a short time, Belarusian officials may stop trying, Sivicki said. But they will continue to use China-friendly rhetoric though, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Minsk seeks to strengthen ties with China to mitigate the effect of Western sanctions for its role in Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing takes a pragmatic approach and is unlikely to provide aid for free, experts say. Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka on March 14 told Xie Xiaoyong, the Chinese ambassador in Minsk, that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11376","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMinsk attempts to boost ties with China to offset Western sanctions \u2013 analysis | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Minsk seeks to strengthen ties with China to mitigate the effect of Western sanctions for its role in Russia\u2019s invasion of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11376\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minsk attempts to boost ties with 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