China and Russia: common cause amid global chaos

Russia, like China, does not share the White House’s conviction that only Washington has the right to decide the fate of the world, and refuses to follow the US’s dictates in international relations.

The fact is that all developed countries have Internet spying networks. But ordinary people have come to realise the seriousness of the problem only since Snowden’s revelations.

The US has the most potent Internet spying network in the world, and it uses its connections with telecom giants to snoop into people’s lives. The hype created by the US over Russian and Chinese Internet espionage networks is an attempt to divert attention from its own activities. The US uses its powerful propaganda machine to divert attention from its own dirty work.

Despite all this, Russian-US relations are not likely to deteriorate to the point of no return, even though their bilateral ties are incomplete and diversified.

Russian-US trade volume in 2012 was just US$28 billion, one-third of that between Russia and China. And the US is not even among the top 10 foreign investors in Russia, with the volume of accumulated American investment in Russia dropping over the past five years by about $500 million. 

But despite the relative economic weakness of Russia and the unimpressive Russian-US economic link, Washington cannot ignore Moscow, especially because of the possibility of joint Russian-Chinese actions in the international arena.

In contrast to Russian-US ties, economic relations are central to Sino-US ties, though economic interdependence is not the only criterion for a peaceful long-term relationship. 

There is more to bilateral relations than trade. China and the US follow different ideologies and have different social systems, and some even say they have a trust deficit. But still they are each other’s major trade partner. Which means genuine trust is impossible without mutual understanding.

For Russia and China, social and political stability at home is most crucial, and they believe that domestic problems have to be solved domestically. This has been the driving factor in the relationship. The US, being a global power, has become used to solving its domestic problems by shifting the focus of its citizens to external threats to US interests, regardless of whether they are real or construed.

The US’s recent policy moves should force Russia to think seriously about its policy toward China. The US is reluctant to talk with Russia on equal terms. So Russia and China should work more closely to coordinate their actions on the global stage.

In today’s world, the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership acts like a political union for the advancement of peace and prosperity in the world. Although this union is not defined by special agreement and doesn’t have a “military” prefix attached to it, the two countries do face some common political threats because of the deteriorating international order.

The use of military force worsens existing situations. So Russian-Chinese military exercises should not be more than an examination of their respective potentials. This is what any independent state should do to restore the international order.

 

Victor Larin is director of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, the Russian Academy of Sciences.