China = Bad or China = Good are both shockingly it turns out oversimplifications.
International organizations, such as the IEA and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, have recently examined Ukraine’s energy reconstruction, covering aspects such as decentralization, solar power, battery storage, financing, and electricity-market reform. However, these reports tell us remarkably little about the sources of the equipment needed for this transition.
In particular, the role of Chinese-made equipment in this shift has received much less attention. According to the IEA, China accounts for around 85 percent of global solar supply-chain production capacity and around 80 percent of lithium-ion battery production capacity. Its share in some specific segments is even higher – for example, China supplies around 95 percent of global PV wafer capacity.
Currently there is no authoritative estimate on the specific share of Chinese-made equipment in Ukraine’s solar and battery markets, not least because some products reach Ukraine through third countries, international procurement channels, and aid programs. Still, given China’s dominance of these supply chains, Chinese-made equipment is likely to have played an important role in Ukraine’s decentralized energy expansion and will probably continue to do so.
Geopolitics is endlessly twisted up and selfcontradicting so yes maybe? The idea that the enemy of your enemy is automatically your ally is an extremely dangerous misconception and the same goes with allies of your allies. To give an example of this point, one of the most dangerous choices Ukraine could possibly make is to treat Israel as its ally simply because Iran is both of their enemies. I will repeat until people pay attention, the maximally damaging thing Trump and other rightwing European leaders could do to Ukraine to try to force Putin/russia to be in a superior position of power at this state of the war was start a separate war of choice and sloppily fire off all the expensive ballistic missiles under your command as fast as possible while inviting the enemy to lay it on thick to justify depleting as much US and European ballistic missile interceptors as possible, which is exactly what Israel and the US accomplished with the Iran War.
This question is irrelevant, the world already does massive amounts of trade with China and cutting them out categorically, through the intentional architecturing of international global trade relations that built the prosperity in the modern world, would be a torpedo to the quality of life of people living in China and living elsewhere in the world.
Can we not just treat China with caution like any other powerful entity we negotiate with that has its own independent objectives from ours?
Also obviously I do not support putting all your eggs in one basket with China, they are a superpower and they obviously have made choices hostile to Ukraine.
edit Israel is also catastrophically not Ukraine’s ally automatically just because Iran is both of their enemies in the sense that Israel/US is by far and away the most likely country to unilaterally decide to drop a nuclear weapon on another country tomorrow, and if that happens Ukraine will quickly become the second country to be obliterated by nuclear weapons on that timeline and guess how “upset” Trump will be about that?
edit2 this whole ass comment and all my bloviating is also superceded that from the perspective of Ukraine no matter what happens, the end of the Ukraine War when russia admits it has already lost or fully shatters apart will involve primarily negotiations with China because of the basic mutually experienced threat of russia completely shitting the bed while possessing a massive nuclear arsenal and tons of weapons poses to both adjacent countries. This both means Ukraine should be extremely skeptical of China but also that productive engagement with China is simply a practical reality of ending the war no matter how you feel about China. My biggest criticism of China is also because of this that China should have already stepped up and done this long ago, russia has been bullshitting it can win this war for a long time and everybody knows it.
Just to be clear, China is Russia’s ally, and they are actively helping Russia in this war.
I agree with your points however there is also a lot of other places that make solar panels and batteries that may be safer and help Russia less if purchased from.
There is also a lot of opportunity for domestic production
Definitely, it is a matter of prime interest to Ukraine’s national security interests, something emphasized by the Patriot shortage created by the Iran War of choice that has so “conveniently” allowed Trump to fuck over Ukraine and multiply his daddies leverage over Ukraine…
…but then the flipside to that leaps out and begs a necessary and obvious question -> if Putin/russia’s theory of victory is clearly to smash apart Ukrainian cities over this winter with widespread terrorist attacks against concentrations of civilians and vulnerable life sustaining infrastructure using drones and China is simply Ukraine’s enemy why is it selling Ukraine the capacity to build decentralized strike resistant infrastructure as well as unarmed drones?
Chinese companies are selling products for a profit. The Chinese government then taxes these companies and a portion of that money will aid Russia in various ways.
Which is an unbelievably meager benefit in exchange for singlehandedly and existentially undermining russia’s theory of victory?
It depends on the scale of purchases and the morality of the buyer.
Personally, I’d rather find an alternative then let a penny go towards Russian bombs.