A “big mistake” that allowed China and Russia to get closer, according to an American strategist

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, May 16, 2024. © Sputnik/Serguei Gouneev

Decades of Washington’s efforts have been in vain, according to Michael Pillsbury Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, May 16, 2024. © Sputnik/Sergey Guneev

US President Joe Biden’s cabinet made a major policy mistake by pushing Russia and China into a strategic partnership, Michael Pillsbury, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said Thursday.

Pillsbury spoke to Fox and Friends as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on his first foreign trip since his inauguration.

“Drawing, bringing together two nuclear powers, Russia and China, is really a mistake of the utmost importance,” he told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade.

According to Pillsbury, China has spent much of the last 75 years in conflict with the Soviet Union, “so to see them come together like this is just shocking to me.”

This is one of the biggest mistakes we will see in my lifetime.

Pillsbury has helped Washington formulate its China policy since the 1970s. He served in various positions at the Pentagon and as a member of the U.S. Senate, before moving to China-focused offices at the Hudson Institute and later at Heritage.

Washington has long had a policy goal of maintaining the gap between China and Russia, beginning with President Richard Nixon’s détente with Beijing in the 1970s. This policy was in effect until 2020, with President Donald Trump attempting to use tariffs to pressure China to work with the United States, Pillsbury noted.

“This would never happen under Trump,” he said. “It was one of Trump’s goals to never allow this to happen.”

When Kilmeade suggested that China “needs” the US and European markets, in order for the West to have leverage over Beijing, Pillsbury stressed that this “just isn’t happening under Biden”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also commented on US attempts to separate China from Russia. In an interview Thursday, he said China was “strong enough” to resist “brazen” pressure attempts.

China and Russia “both uphold the principles of fairness and a democratic world order based on multipolar realities and international law,” Putin said Thursday, adding that relations between the two countries “are not directed against anyone “.

Putin described Russian-Chinese cooperation as “one of the main stabilizing factors in the international arena.”

Xi agreed, saying relations between Beijing and Moscow constitute a “model of relations between major powers and neighboring states, characterized by mutual respect, trust, friendship and mutual benefit.” (RT)

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