My comment:
(a) The first half has no new insights, so skip it. Read the second half, whose first paragraphs is: "《衛報》發表評論說，烏克蘭危機後，普京的支持者之多超出了西方的預料。西方對俄羅斯的歷史仇恨使俄羅斯找到了自己的朋友，包括印度和中國。"
(b) Here is the commentary at issue.
Timothy Garton Ash, Putin Has More Admirers Than the West Might Think; Russia has found out who its friends are recently – and thanks to some old resentments, that includes India and China. Guardian, Apr 17, 2014. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... india-china-ukraine
Quote:
"The Ukrainian crisis is a political Rorschach test, not just for individuals but also for states. What it reveals to us is not encouraging for the west. It turns out that Vladimir Putin has more admirers around the world than you might expect for someone using a neo-Soviet combination of violence and the big lie to dismember a neighbouring sovereign state.
"As for Ukraine – which already sells China higher-grade military equipment than Russia has been willing to share with its great Asian ally – its new authorities had already quietly assured the Chinese authorities that Beijing's failure to condemn the annexation of Crimea would not affect their future relations. What's not to like [for Chinese] in all that?
"However, this growing concern [of China's over Russia's design for eastern Ukraine, beyond Crimea] did not apparently cool the warmth of the welcome given to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Beijing on Tuesday. President Xi said that relations between China and Russia "are at their best" and have played 'an irreplaceable role in maintaining world peace and stability.'