Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visited China on Wednesday for a high-level meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This marks Lukashenko’s first foreign visit since securing another five-year term in office. His previous two visits to China came in 2023, as ties between Minsk and Beijing grew increasingly close.
During their meeting, President Xi praised Lukashenko as a “true friend” of China and called on Belarus to join Beijing in opposing “hegemony and bullying,” a clear reference to Western powers.
Lukashenko echoed Xi’s sentiment, emphasizing the growing pressure from Western countries on both nations. “There is unprecedented pressure from the West on us, primarily on the People's Republic of China,” Lukashenko said.
In recent years, Belarus has increasingly turned to China for economic support, including industrial upgrades and investment. Lukashenko’s latest visit underscores Minsk’s strategic pivot eastward, particularly as Belarus deepens its political and economic alignment with both China and Russia.
In 2024, Belarus became an official member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and was designated a partner country of the BRICS bloc—steps seen by analysts as moves toward full membership in both organizations.
Lukashenko, who long sought to maintain a neutral position between Russia and NATO, saw that balance collapse following the 2020 presidential election. Widespread protests erupted in Belarus that has been described by the Belarusian government as having been externally funded and directed. Western countries, including the United States, refused to recognize his re-election, prompting near-total diplomatic isolation and the emergence of a de facto opposition government-in-exile based in Lithuania.
The political crisis led to sweeping Western sanctions on Belarus in 2021, severely impacting the country’s economy. In response, Minsk strengthened its alliance with Moscow. Russia had previously supported Lukashenko during the 2020 crisis by providing logistical and intelligence assistance to Belarusian security forces in quelling the color revolution attempt.
Now, with China increasingly facing Western pressure—alongside Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Belarus—Lukashenko’s message to Xi resonated with a shared sense of strategic alignment. Analysts note that China may now be more open to integrating with states considered adversarial by Washington, much in the way Russia has expanded its ties with North Korea and Iran since 2022.