A Distant Ally: The Role of China in Belarusian Policy in the Context of the Deepening Integration of the Union State

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/SDR.2025.EN9.11

Keywords

Belarus, China, Russia, Union State, strategic partnership, patron–client relations

Abstract

The article examines the role of China in Belarus’s foreign policy in the context of its deepening integration with Russia through the Union State. It explores the evolution of Belarus–China relations, especially during 2020–2025, when bilateral cooperation expanded beyond economic ties to include ideological and propaganda aspects. The paper also analyzes the impact of Belarus’s post-election crisis and the war in Ukraine on Minsk’s approach to Beijing, addressing the strategic significance of China within the Minsk–Moscow–Beijing triangle.

Author Biographies

Justyna Olędzka, University of Białystok

Justyna Olędzka – assistant professor at the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Białystok and head of the Centre for Studies on Threats to National Security at the Academic Centre for Strategic Analysis. Her research interests focus on: issues of legitimisation and delegitimisation of leadership in the post-Soviet area, the role of propaganda and disinformation in undemocratic regimes, the theory and practice of social engineering, and research on cognitive warfare.

Taras Polovyi, University of Białystok

Taras Polovyi – graduate student in political science and assistant at the Department of International Relations, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, PhD at the Yuriy Fedkovich Chernivtsi National University, worked at the International Information Department of the Lviv Polytechnic National University. Participant of the Scholarship Program of the Government of Poland for Young Scientists and the Visegrad Scholarship Program. His sphere of scientific interest includes: the foreign policy of Belarus, Russian propaganda and domestic political processes in Belarus.

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Studia z Dziejów Rosji i Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej

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Published

2026-01-17

How to Cite

1.
OLĘDZKA, Justyna and POLOVYI, Taras. A Distant Ally: The Role of China in Belarusian Policy in the Context of the Deepening Integration of the Union State. Studia z Dziejów Rosji i Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Online. 17 January 2026. Vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 319-331. [Accessed 18 January 2026]. DOI 10.12775/SDR.2025.EN9.11.

Issue

Vol. 60 No. 3 (2025): Special Issue

Section

CHALLENGES AND GOALS OF POST-IMPERIAL RUSSIA

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