“A world war is not the best solution” – Kommersant FM

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been dismissed, state news agency Xinhua reported. Details have not been disclosed. According to official information, Beijing is thus responding to a wave of rumors and insinuations regarding the fate of the now former head of the Ministry of Defense. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi leaves for the United States. The purpose of the trip is to prepare for the official visit of President Xi Jinping. Kommersant FM political commentator Dmitry Drize believes that there is reason for moderate optimism.

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been officially removed from his post. There are no details – these are Chinese specifics. Before this, the general disappeared from the public sphere, which caused a series of rumors and speculations in the world press. This is the second major resignation of Chinese leadership in recent months. In the summer, Foreign Minister Qin Gang left his post; by the way, he has now also lost his seat in the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. There were also many different fabrications on this score, including a fatal love story.

However, let’s return to the head of the Ministry of Defense. The Xiangshan Security Forum opens in Beijing. This is a large international event – 90 guests will arrive. Among them – attention – a representative delegation from the Pentagon. As the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post notes, there is a high chance of resuming a large-scale dialogue between the United States and China in the field of defense.

Before this, all connections in this area were virtually frozen. The main reason is that Comrade Li Shangfu came under American sanctions due to military contacts with the Russian Federation. President Xi Jinping was angry and expressed serious complaints to Washington about this. But, as we see, the problem has found a different solution.

Further more. The current head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi, is going to the United States. His main task is to prepare the program for the visit of the head of the People’s Republic of China to San Francisco in November. The APEC summit will be held there, and a personal meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping is not excluded.

Meanwhile, one cannot help but pay attention to the fact that official Beijing has taken a more active position towards Israel.

Mr. Wang Yi spoke on the phone with his colleague Eli Cohen, during which it was stated, in particular, about the right of the Jewish state to defense, although, of course, international law must be respected. He also talked with the Palestinian side. But the fact of personal participation is obvious – this is not just an expression of concern.

Actually, what is the military cooperation between China and the United States that was frozen, and now the process can go in the opposite direction? It is very difficult to imagine how, in the current difficult situation, it is possible to interact with both America and Russia at the same time. It’s probably possible somehow.

Only now the Minister of Defense, who, as you know, had been to both Moscow and Minsk several times before and was under American sanctions, has now been fired. We have to repeat this again. It is possible, of course, that this is not the reason, but a fact is a fact, and you cannot argue with it.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and make hasty conclusions. However, it can be assumed that China is gradually realizing that a world war and a new bloc confrontation are not the best solution today from all points of view. If this is so, then there is very little reason for optimism. At the very least, China’s special military operation against Taiwan appears to be on hold. Indeed, that’s enough conflict for today.

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