Trade likely to be at the front of Lukashenko’s mind when he touches down in the Chinese capital on Tuesday, analyst says.
Belarusian President and long-time Moscow ally Alexander Lukashenko will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day visit amid intense scrutiny of China’s close ties with Russia and its position on the Ukraine war. Belarus was among the first countries to join Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and it became an “all-weather” strategic partner with China in September. A staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin , Lukashenko is expected to voice support for Beijing’s 12-point position paper and peace plan on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a document greeted with widespread scepticism, according to observers. For the Belarusian leader and his sanctions-hit country, Chinese trade and investment support is expected to be a high priority. In a phone call with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang hailed their leadership-led ties and vowed to deepen mutual trust and “push for more fruitful outcomes in bilateral cooperation”. “China will continue to support Belarus in its efforts to safeguard national stability and development, and oppose external interference in Belarus’ internal affairs and illegal unilateral sanctions against the country,” he said, according to a foreign ministry statement. While both Beijing and Minsk want to bolster their alignment to counter rising Western pressure, Lukashenko’s priority is to “get China to expand economic cooperation with Belarus, including perhaps providing loans”, according to Artyom Lukin, an associate professor at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University. “For quite a while, China has been Belarus’ most important partner after Russia, with Lukashenko making regular visits to Beijing. His last trip there was in 2019. So it’s not surprising he is going there again after the pandemic has ended,” he said.
