BRICS countries all are lending support to Moscow at a time when it has been largely cut off diplomatically and economically from the Western world. But while the group functions as a source of support for Russia, it is important to distinguish the differences in how and why they are offering that support.
Last month, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang continued a decades-long tradition of Chinese foreign ministers starting the year with a trip to Africa. The visit comes at a time of ramped up engagement between African states and the U.S., highlighting the U.S. tendency to characterize Africa’s relations with China in patronizing terms.
Now that Xi Jinping has cemented his position as the unrivalled leader of China, the country’s foreign policy increasingly reflects his personality: insecure, controlling and aggressive. This is apparent in the uncompromising vision for building a 21st-century PLA that Xi laid out at last year’s Party Congress.
