Xi and Putin Closer Than Ever
Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping is “deepening his long-term bet on Russia,” the Wall Street Journal reported on December 14. China is Russia’s closest ally, though it has made some show of drifting away from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. But this new report shows that the two nations are as close as they have ever been.
Stronger ties: According to policy advisers in Beijing, Xi has directed his government to forge stronger economic ties with Russia. This includes:
- Increasing Chinese imports of Russian oil, gas and produce
- Joint energy ventures in the Arctic
- Chinese investment in Russian infrastructure
- Conducting financial transactions in the yuan or ruble currencies
Russia’s economic partnership with China has lessened the impact of Western sanctions. Trade is expected to reach a record $200 billion this year. This has, in part, helped Russia continue the Ukraine war. Although China hasn’t openly supported Russia’s invasion, it hasn’t explicitly condemned it either. These stronger ties are a tacit endorsement. China is backing Russia.
Xi’s ‘Russia complex’: Xi Jinping’s father went to the ussr in the late 1950s to study its industry. Xi was born the same year Communist leader Mao Zedong mandated a study into the ussr as a template for China’s political, economic and military systems. Many historians think this is the root cause of Xi’s “Russia complex”—a deep-rooted admiration for Soviet values, history and culture.
This complex survived decades of Soviet-Sino tensions. It survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, and it appears to have survived the global condemnation of Russia’s Ukraine invasion. “Xi has been strengthening China’s relations with Russia largely independent of the Russian invasion,” Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, told the Journal. “The relationship may well be becoming ever closer.”
Russia and China in prophecy: In 2013, Xi told Putin, “I have a similar personality to yours.” In 2019, he called Putin his “best friend.” Last December, China declared that its relationship with Russia had “no limits.” These are different ways of describing the same thing: Russia and China have an intimate relationship that aligns with Bible prophecy.
The Bible says this close economic alliance will become militaristic in the near future. Ezekiel 38 speaks of a powerful Asian bloc of nations led by Russia, with China in a secondary position. The book of Revelation calls this bloc “the kings of the east,” an end-time coalition with an army of 200 million soldiers (Revelation 9:16; 16:12). The road to this military alliance is paved with economic cooperation, a road Russia and China are clearly already on.
Request your free copy of Russia and China in Prophecy to learn more about where this close relationship is leading.
