The Future Of China Russia Relations

Relations between China and Russia have evolved dramatically since their first diplomatic contact, particularly during the twentieth century. During the past decade China and Russia have made efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and improve cooperation on a number of diplomatic fronts. The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation maintain exceptionally close and friendly relations, strong geopolitical and regional cooperation, and significant levels of trade. In The Future of China-Russia Relations, scholars from around the world explore the current state of the relationship between the two powers and assess the prospects for future cooperation and possible tensions in the new century. The contributors examine Russian and Chinese perspectives on a wide range of issues, including security, political relationships, economic interactions, and defense ties. This collection explores the energy courtship between the two nations and analyzes their interests and policies regarding Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan.

The most significant challenge to the post-Cold War international order is the growing power of ambitious states opposed to the West. Iran, Russia and China each view the global structure through the prism of historical experience. Rejecting the universality of Western liberal values, these states and their governments each consider the relative decline of Western economic hegemony as an opportunity. Yet cooperation between them remains fragmentary. The end of Western sanctions and the Iranian nuclear deal; the Syrian conflict; new institutions in Central and East Asia: in all these areas and beyond, the potential for unity or divergence is striking. In this new and comprehensive study, Ariane Tabatabai and Dina Esfandiary address the substance of this `triple axis' in the realms of energy, trade, and military security. In particular they scrutinise Iran-Russia and the often overlooked field of Iran-China relations. Their argument - that interactions between the three will shape the world stage for decades to come - will be of interest to anyone looking to understand the contemporary international security puzzle.

Since 2014, China and Russia have strengthened their relationship. In this report, the authors seek to understand the impact of the Chinese-Russian relationship on the United States and implications for future U.S. policy.

This book depicts the sophisticated relationship between Russia and China as a pragmatic one, a political “marriage of convenience”. Yet at the same time the relationship is stable, and will remain so. After all, bilateral relations are usually based on pragmatic interests and the pursuit of these interests is the very essence of foreign policy. And, as often happens in life, the most long-lasting marriages are those based on convenience. The highly complex, complicated, ambiguous and yet, indeed, successful relationship between Russia and China throughout the past 25 years is difficult to grasp theoretically. Russian and Chinese elites are hard-core realists in their foreign policies, and the neorealist school in international relations seems to be the most adequate one to research Sino-Russian relations. Realistically, throughout this period China achieved a multidimensional advantage over Russia. Yet, simultaneously Russia-China relations do not follow the patterns of power politics. Beijing knows its limits and does not go into extremes. Rather, China successfully seeks to build a longterm, stable relationship based on Chinese terms, where both sides gain, albeit China gains a little more. Russia in this agenda does not necessary lose; just gains a little less out of this asymmetric deal. Thus, a new model of bilateral relations emerges, which may be called – by paraphrasing the slogan of Chinese diplomacy – as “asymmetric win-win” formula. This model is a kind of “back to the past“ – a contemporary equivalent of the first model of Russia-China relations: the modus vivendi from the 17th century, achieved after the Nerchinsk treaty.

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - Region: Far East, grade: 1,0, Martin Luther University (Institut für Politikwissenschaften und Japanologie), course: International Relations: Russian Foreign Policy, language: English, abstract: Russia and China share a long common history since official relations started in 1683 with the Treaty of Nertschinsk , which marks the first bilateral agreement between China and a western state. Since that time, Russia has been a colonial power, a communist sister country, a revisionist and eventually a reliable partner for China. Sino-Russian relations underwent many breakings and challenges, making both countries’ common history one of the most changeful one could imagine. Nowadays their relation seems to be at an all-time high. Notwithstanding the Ukrainian crisis, Russia and China signed several important cooperation and investment agreements in May and in October 2014, including a giant gas deal for which both countries drove a ten years hard bargain and a cross-currency swap . This crushed western hopes for a growing gap between “bear and dragon” in face of Crimea annexation and caused observers to talk of a Sino-Russian “honeymoon” . However, under the surface their relation is not without any problems. First of all there is a problem of the base: the lack of a common strategy. Beyond opposing the US and the opaque overall idea of a “multipolar world”, both countries do not share a clear vision of a future international system. Moreover, there is a growing dissent in Central Asia as well as growing Chinese nationalism in combination with the unresolved “Siberian question” leading to worries in Russia. Above all, increasing economic asymmetries in China’s favour nurture Russian fears of becoming a “junior partner” or a “resource appendix” to China. Thus, the future of Sino-Russian relations remains a controversial subject: Is it a natural partnership or just lack of alternatives? Will they be allies or competitors?

This book examines how recent fundamental changes influence Sino-Russian relations and the wider long-term implications of the revolving Sino-Russian dynamic on international affairs. It brings together leading scholars to examine recent developments across the whole relationship – from grand strategy and global governance, to bilateral energy and military ties, and regional interaction in Central Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Middle East. The Sino-Russian relationship boasts major achievements, but also reveals important differences and latent tensions. The project is intended for policy-makers, academics and students of strategic studies, diplomacy studies, Chinese politics, Russian politics and foreign policy.

In April 1996, after over half a century of border disputes and deep-seated hostility, Russia and China entered into a "strategic partnership." The emergence of a Russia-China relationship will significantly affect international relations in a region already experiencing economic instability and political uncertainty. Based on the findings of a Study Group made up of American, Russian, and Chinese scholars, Limited Partnership explores the issues that will cement the budding relationship, including demilitarization, trade, and a shared view of regional and global issues. It also discusses future challenges to strategic cooperation, such as the disparity in the economic growth of the two countries, Chinese migration, political instability in the Russian Far East, and diverging interests in East and Central Asia. After setting out various forms that the Russia-China relationship might take, the report examines the likely impact of these scenarios and offers recommendations for U.S. policy.

Over the last two decades, relations between China and Russia have grown closer in ways that pose significant challenges for the United States and its allies and partners. Recently, as Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have consolidated power, the two leaders have cultivated a strategic axis that, while not a formal alliance, aims to undermine the United States and other liberal nations while expanding Chinese and Russian influence abroad. In this volume, leading U.S. experts explore the contours of this emergent axis of authoritarians in multiple domains and consider policy options for the United States to strengthen its position and defend its interests.