Beijing and Paris issue statement denouncing planned Israeli offensive against southern Gaza city following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
Not a controversial stance for an European nation but the joint statement is interesting. Could this be a part of a deal for China to flip on Russia. Does China choose to stay with an ideological reactionary ally or move towards collaborations
I think it's much more likely this is an attempt to balance France's own ties with China to protect its substantial business interests inside China. As much as I would like to think China supports the Palestinians cause to this degree, I think it would take a lot more than this to get China to flip on two decades of its core Russia policy.
Anyone with eyes can see that the US definitely intends to come after China after Russia is "dealt with". It would take a lot of concessions to get China to throw aside its only major ally.
China is far better of allied with Russia than with Western Europe from an ideological perspective. France is still an active empire and it still acts as an administrator of neocolonial dominance. There is no reason for China to move towards Western Europe at all. It is Western Europe that must move towards China.
Its a joint statement but its definitely framed as "China taking the lead and France following" and not the other way around. I don't see this as a sign that China is moving away from its current relationships with Russia.