US/NATO War on Russia

[Magda Hassan]

China seems quite unimpressed with the turn of events in Ukraine. They're suing for a refund on their loan for the promised grain which hasn't materialised. Arms deals are in doubt too. Meanwhile they are sailing to the Caribbean and Venezuela to do war 'games' with Russia and discuss bases. And remember they now control thousands of acres of Ukrainian farm land.

China is seeking compensation of US$3 billion from Ukraine for the breach of a loans-for-grain contract signed in 2012, Russian media reported yesterday.
Under the deal, the Export-Import Bank of China provided the loan to Kiev in exchange for supplies of grain.
Citing a Ukrainian parliament official, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported that the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine has used part of the US$3 billion Chinese loan to instead provide crops for other countries and parties, including Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya and Syrian opposition groups.
So far, Chinese importers have only received US$153 million worth of Ukrainian grain, or 180,000 tonnes, the report said.
The report was carried by the Chinese-language service of The Voice of Russia radio. There has been no official comment from China Exim Bank on the report.
The Ukrainian parliamentary official said China has already lodged a case against Ukraine at the London Court of International Arbitration. The report did not mention the date or any further details on the case.
In March, the Worldwide News Ukraine news agency reported that the first half of the Chinese loan was delivered to Kiev, and Ukraine planned then to export four million tonnes of grain last year.
The loan contract stipulated the supply of Ukrainian grain over 15 years. The annual volume of grain exports would vary but would not exceed six million tonnes a year.
The Ukrainian parliament would provide state guarantees for the loan-for-grain contract, the report added.
China has stepped up agricultural co-operation with Ukraine in recent years. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps said last year it had reached an agreement with KSG Agro, a leading Ukraine agricultural company, on a 50-year programme to secure produce from three million hectares of Ukrainian farmland for Chinese consumers.
But KSG later denied it was "selling" any land to any Chinese companies, and that the agreement was a "letter of intent" concerning a transfer of irrigation technology from Xinjiang.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1...-agreement

China's relationship with Ukraine faces an uncertain future with the naming of a pro-Western interim president, according to observers.
The appointment followed three months of protests over a Russian-EU tug-of-war that brought Kiev to a standstill.
At stake are Beijing's military and economic relations with Ukraine, which could face obstacles in the likelihood that Kiev's leaders will turn away from Russia's grip and move closer to the European Union.
Watch: Mixed opinions over Yanukovych's downfall in his Ukraine home town
"This will have a negative impact on co-operation between China and Ukraine in the short run," said Cui Hongjian , director of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies.
Ukraine's political crisis took a dramatic twist on Sunday when parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Turchynov was named interim leader.
The protests erupted after former president Viktor Yanukovych - who is believed to have fled the country and is now facing criminal charges - ditched a key EU trade pact rather than upset Moscow, which offered Kiev billions in aid.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing on Monday that China had been closely following the situation in Ukraine and called for the crisis to be resolved through consultation.
The change of government … will create uncertainty about trade
YANG CHENG
"China does not interfere in Ukraine's internal affairs, respects the independent choice made by the Ukrainian people in keeping with Ukraine's national conditions and stands ready to foster strategic partnership with the Ukrainian side on an equal footing," she said.
The EU imposed an arms embargo on China in 1989 over Beijing's crackdown on dissidents, thus cutting it off from direct transfers of weapons and defence technologies.
But China's military modernisation has made it less dependent on foreign arms.
There is a strong push in Ukraine to join the EU, and if it does, it might have to drop its arms trade with China to conform with the EU embargo.
Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was built in Ukraine, one of many symbols of the two sides' defence ties. Photo: AP
Ukraine became the fourth-largest arms exporter in 2012, after the United States, Russia and China, according to global security expert Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Ukraine has played a key role in engine production, and the maintenance of China's fighter jets and other aircraft. In fact, China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, was built in Ukraine.
China has also co-operated with Ukraine over gas turbines in the Chinese Aegis destroyer, and the diesel engine for the Al-Khalid tank developed for Pakistan, according to Taiwan-based Want China Times.
Kiev and Beijing were brought closer earlier this year by a security agreement. The treaty signed by President Xi Jinping and Yanukovych in January says Beijing will guarantee Ukraine security if the nation is under threat of a nuclear invasion.
Economically, China has also been stepping up its trade with Ukraine. In December, Yanukovych said he had secured US$8 billion in Chinese investments for his ailing economy after talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
But Yang Cheng, the deputy director of the Centre for Russian Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said the situation in Ukraine would remain chaotic no matter which power - the EU or Russia - Kiev ended up choosing.
"The change of government in Ukraine will definitely create uncertainty on whether the momentum for trade co-operation between Kiev and Beijing will remain as strong as it has been", Yang said.
But he said Ukraine, no matter its political choices, would still welcome Chinese investment because economic co-operation with either the EU or Russia alone would not be enough to bail out its battered economy.
Zhang Shengjun, deputy dean of the Institute of Political Science and International Studies at Beijing Normal University, said China would rely less on Ukraine for military development but would continue pouring in investment to maintain its influence.

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1...s-jeopardy