華爾街日報中文版
美國要讓中共國為烏克蘭危機下的與俄緊密關係付出代價
在俄羅斯總統普丁和中國領導人習近平的領導下，中俄之間的密切關係達到了1950年代初以來的頂峰，兩國領導人的共同目標是削弱美國的力量。
圖片來源：ALEXEI DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES美國想挑撥中國與俄羅斯間的緊密夥伴關係。美國官員們稱，其中一步是讓俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭的行動給中方帶來痛苦。
這些美國官員說，如果中俄兩國之間出現分歧，美國有望從中獲益，並且俄羅斯全面入侵烏克蘭是一個迫使中國作出選擇的機會：是站在俄羅斯一邊，還是保持與歐洲、美國和世界其他地區重要的經濟聯繫？
這些官員說，如果中國的企業和銀行試圖幫助俄羅斯，那麼針對俄羅斯實施的懲罰性經濟措施，尤其是對某些技術的出口管制，可能會對中國造成打擊。
美國國務院的一名官員說，如果中國或任何其他国家想要從事那些會受到美國制裁的活動，他們將自食其果。
一位政府官員說，美國正利用國際論壇迫使中國對俄方的入侵行動公開表明立場。上周五，在聯合國安理會上，俄羅斯否決了美國支持的要求俄羅斯撤出烏克蘭的決議，而中國同印度和阿聯酋一道投了棄權票，中國的做法招致了美國的批評。
美國駐聯合國大使琳達·托馬斯-格林菲爾德(Linda Thomas-Greenfield)表示，那些投棄權票的国家相當於縱容「俄羅斯的侵略和無端行動」。
聯合國外交官表示，美國正推動聯合國大會在本周就一項類似的決議進行辯論，目的是疏離俄羅斯與中國之間的關係。聯合國人權理事會(UN Human Rights Council)本周在日內瓦舉行的會議是達成該目標的另一個機會。
中國已呼籲通過談判解決烏克蘭危機，並對美國提出的中國將因與俄羅斯的關係而沾上污點表達了憤怒。
中國外交部發言人汪文斌上周在北京表示：「真正名譽受損的是那些打著民主、人權旗號肆意干涉別國內政、四處對外發動戰爭的国家。」
中國駐聯合國大使張軍周五在聯合國安理會發表講話，當時中國對美國支持的要求俄羅斯撤出烏克蘭的決議投了棄權票。
圖片來源：SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS中俄聯手給美國帶來了地緣政治挑戰，令美國可能不得不同時為應對歐亞大陸東西兩面的衝突做好準備，而不能專注於執行拜登(Joe Biden)政府想要對抗中國的首要任務。鑑於要應對俄烏衝突這個新挑戰，美國政府已經推遲關於國防和国家安全的關鍵戰略文件的發布。
這些美國官員表示，讓中國減少對俄羅斯的支持，將在烏克蘭問題上進一步孤立俄羅斯，降低中俄兩國在其他問題上合作的能力，並讓中國作為合作夥伴的可靠性存疑。
這些官員表示，美國和歐洲盟友對俄羅斯將採取的制裁和其他措施，也是向中國釋出的一個信號，表明如果中國攻打台灣，可能會面臨什麼情況。台灣是一個民主治理的島嶼，中國政府聲稱台灣是中國領土。美國政府官員表示，這傳達的資訊是，赤裸裸的侵略和違反核心全球規則會有代價。
一些前官員和外交政策專家表示，勸說中國放棄俄羅斯需要謹慎地配合使用外交和放信號兩種方法，因為中俄兩國政府會認為美國是在試圖削弱他們的全球野心。
總部設在華盛頓的智庫德國馬歇爾基金會(German Marshall Fund)亞洲項目主任葛來儀(Bonnie Glaser)稱，如果美國政府走上尋求分立俄羅斯和中國的道路，「我們可能會讓中國感到非常、非常不舒服，中方或許還會重新考慮與俄羅斯保持密切關係的好處」。
自俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭以來，中國一直努力調整在烏克蘭問題上的公開立場，既試圖尊重與俄羅斯的夥伴關係，同時又呼籲俄烏進行談判，並重申其長期信奉的尊重国家主權和不干涉別國內政的原則。
儘管中烏兩國有著緊密的貿易和投資關係，中國是烏克蘭玉米和小麥的主要進口國，但烏克蘭當地的情況證明，中國很難兼顧各方利益。上周末，中國駐基輔大使館提醒仍在烏克蘭的中國公民要保持低調，不要隨意展示具有識別性的標識。
在中國領導人習近平和俄羅斯總統普丁(Vladimir Putin)的領導下，中俄關係像20世紀50年代初中蘇結盟後一樣密切，兩位領導人的共同目標是削弱美國實力，他們認為強大的美國將損害中俄利益。習近平本月在北京冬奧會前夕接待普丁時，對這一點進行了明確的表述，當時俄羅斯正在烏克蘭周圍集結軍隊。
中俄兩國隨後發表的一份長達5,000字的聯合聲明批評美國及其聯盟損害了中俄的安全利益。聲明反對北大西洋公約組織(North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 簡稱﹕北約)擴張，這相當於採用了普丁威脅烏克蘭時的立場，也標誌著中國政府首次在歐洲安全問題上明確支持俄羅斯。
拜登政府自去年11月就開始對俄羅斯在臨近烏克蘭邊境地區部署軍隊發出警告，美國官員們一直試圖讓中國利用其對俄羅斯的影響力來阻止入侵行為的發生。在最近幾周，美國國務卿布林肯(Antony Blinken)與中國外交部長王毅就此事進行過兩次交談。
布林肯表示：「我們先前要求中國以建設性的方式利用這種影響力，首要就是防止戰爭爆發，而現在入侵正在發生，我們需要盡可能快速地阻止戰爭進行下去。」另一位美國官員說，對中國提出的要求與美國向其他可能對俄羅斯有影響力的国家發出的呼籲類似，其中包括哈薩克斯坦。
知情人士稱，本月在普丁與習近平發表聯合聲明後，拜登政府官員聚集在一起商討如何應對中俄合作。這些知情人士稱，官員們決定採取一種突出強調中俄合作夥伴關係並讓中國為此付出代價的策略。
不斷升級的對俄制裁相當於對中方發出的最嚴厲警告訊號之一。美國和歐盟在很大程度上切斷了俄羅斯金融部門與西方金融體系的聯繫，並下令凍結普丁及其核心圈子成員在西方的所有資產。美國、歐盟、日本和其他国家頒布的出口管制措施則禁止向俄羅斯轉讓關鍵技術。
美國正在觀察中國的金融機構是否會試圖彌補俄羅斯融資渠道不足的影響，或者中國科技公司是否會試圖規避對俄羅斯出口的新限制。
據前政府官員稱，拜登與習近平的工作關係可追溯至10年前，當時兩人分別擔任美國副總統和中國国家副主席之職。在上周四被問及是否將敦促中國幫助孤立俄羅斯時，拜登說：「我目前不準備對此發表評論。」
白宮發言人帕莎其(Jen Psaki)上周五表示：「鑑於這涉及到中國，我想說總統的觀點當然是，現在全球領導人不僅要明確反對普丁的公然侵略、並將與烏克蘭人民站在一起，而且現在不是含糊其辭、躲避或觀望未來會發生什麼的時候。」
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U.S. Looks to Make China Pay for Close Ties to Russia in Ukraine Crisis
China-Russia relations under Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are as close as they have been since the early 1950s, united by the leaders' shared goal to diminish U.S. power.
Photo: alexei druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON–—The U.S. wants to pry China away from its tight partnership with Russia. One step, U.S. officials said, is making Beijing feel pain over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Washington is looking to gain from any divisions between Moscow and Beijing, the officials said, and Russia's full-scale assault on Ukraine is an opportunity to force China to choose between siding with Russia and maintaining valuable economic ties to Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Punitive economic measures imposed on Russia, particularly export controls on certain technologies, would potentially hit China if its businesses and banks try to help Moscow, according to the officials.
If China "or any other country wants to engage in activity that would be subject to our sanctions, they'll be subject to our sanctions," a State Department official said.
The U.S. is using international forums to force China to take a public stand on the invasion, an administration official said. At the United Nations Security Council on Friday, when Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed resolution requiring Russia to withdraw from Ukraine, China abstained, along with India and the United Arab Emirates, drawing criticism from the U.S.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the countries that abstained were aligning themselves with the "aggressive and unprovoked actions of Russia."
The U.S. is pushing for a UN General Assembly debate this week on a similar resolution, with an eye toward dividing Russia from China, UN diplomats said. A meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week is another opportunity.
China has called for a negotiated solution to the Ukraine crisis and has chafed at U.S. suggestions that Beijing will be tainted by association with Moscow.
"The truly discredited countries are those that want only interfere in other countries' internal affairs and wage wars in the name of democracy and human rights," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in Beijing last week.
China's UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, addressed the United Nations Security Council on Friday, when China abstained from a U.S.-backed resolution requiring Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.
Photo: Seth Wenig/Associated PressThe Beijing-Moscow entente presents a geopolitical challenge for the U.S., potentially requiring Washington to prepare for conflict on both ends of the Eurasian continent, instead of focusing on what has been the Biden administration's top priority of countering China. Already the Ukraine conflict has delayed release of key strategy documents on defense and national security as the administration works through the new challenges.
Getting China to lessen support for Russia would further isolate Moscow over Ukraine, reduce the ability of the two to work together on other issues and call into question Beijing's reliability as a partner, the officials said.
The sanctions and other measures the U.S. and European allies are assembling against Russia, the officials said, also serve as a signal to Beijing of what it might face if it attacks Taiwan, a democratically ruled island that Beijing claims as Chinese territory. The message is that naked aggression and breaking core global rules have consequences, the administration official said.
Coaxing Beijing to ditch Moscow will require a combination of careful diplomacy and signaling, since the two governments see the U.S. as trying to blunt their global ambitions, former officials and foreign-policy specialists said.
If the administration proceeds down the path of seeking to divide Russia and China, "we could make China feel very, very uncomfortable and perhaps rethink the advantages of being close to Moscow," said Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund, a Washington-based think tank.
China has been struggling to adjust its public position on Ukraine since the invasion, trying to honor its partnership with Russia, while calling for negotiations and reiterating its long-professed principles of national sovereignty and noninterference.
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China's balancing act has proved difficult on the ground in Ukraine, despite the countries' robust trade and investment relations; China is a major purchaser of Ukrainian corn and wheat. Over the weekend, China's embassy in Kyiv warned Chinese still in the country to keep a low profile and not display identifying signs.
Under Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, China-Russia relations are as close as they have been since the Sino-Soviet bloc of the early 1950s, united by the leaders' shared goal to diminish U.S. power, which they see as aimed at hampering their interests. That was given bold expression when Mr. Xi hosted Mr. Putin this month on the eve of the Olympics, amid the Russian buildup of forces around Ukraine.
A 5,000-word statement released afterward criticized the U.S. and its alliances for undermining China's and Russia's security interests. It opposed expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—adopting the position taken by Mr. Putin as he threatened Ukraine and marking the first time Beijing explicitly backed Moscow on a European security issue.
Since November, when the Biden administration began warning about Russia's positioning of troops in border areas near Ukraine, officials have tried to get Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to stop an invasion. In recent weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke twice with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the matter.
"We asked the PRC that they use that influence in a constructive way, in the first instance, to prevent war, and now that we're in the midst of an invasion to put a halt to it as quickly as is can be achieved," the senior State Department official said, referring to the People's Republic of China, China's official name. Another official said the outreach to China was similar to that to other countries that might have influence with Moscow, including Kazakhstan.
After the Putin-Xi statement this month, Biden administration officials huddled to discuss strategies for dealing with the Beijing-Moscow cooperation, people briefed on the matter said. The officials decided on a tactic to highlight the partnership and make China pay a price for it, the people said.
Escalating sanctions are among the sharpest warning flares to Beijing. The U.S. and European Union are largely cutting off Russia's financial sector from the Western financial system and ordering freezes of any assets in the West held by Mr. Putin and members of his inner circle. Export controls enacted by the U.S., the EU, Japan and others prohibit the transfer of critical technologies.
Washington is watching to see if Chinese financial institutions will try to fill the financing shortfall or whether Chinese technology companies will seek to skirt new limits on exports to Russia.
President Biden has a working relationship with Mr. Xi that dates back a decade to when the two were vice presidents, according to former officials. Asked Thursday if he was urging China to help isolate Russia, Mr. Biden said, "I'm not prepared to comment on that at the moment."
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday: "As it relates to China, you know, I would say that the president's view, of course, is that now is the time for leaders of the world to not just speak out clearly against President Putin's flagrant aggression and to stand with the people of Ukraine, but this is not a moment for equivocation or hiding or waiting to see what happens next."
—Vivian Salama, Courtney McBride and Lingling Wei contributed to this article.
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
News and insights on Russia's attack on Ukraine and the West's response, selected by the editors
Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com
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Appeared in the February 28, 2022, print edition as 'U.S. Takes Aim at China Over Russia Ties.'
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