By Zachary Keck
The long-running consensus in the West and elsewhere has been that China and Russia are destined to clash. According to this narrative, while America’s post-Cold War primacy pushed the two sides together, geography and China’s growing power ensure Beijing and Moscow will be strategic competitors over the long-term.
There’s certainly something to this argument; at the very least these factors ensure mistrust will be a permanent feature of the bilateral relationship. That being said, this ignores the potential areas of cooperation between Russia and China, and fails to tell us how temporary the Sino-Russian relationship truly is.
If President Xi Jinping’s trip to Russia is any indication, the relationship has greater staying power than analysts previously expected. Not only is it symbolically important that Xi has made Russia the destination of his maiden voyage as China’s top leader, but he clearly is placing a lot of importance on the visit. China’s state media have spent the past week covering the trip and Sino-Russian ties in excruciating detail, and Xi has reportedly been brushing up on his rudimentary Russian language skills and even memorizing Russian poetry in order to make a strong impression on his hosts. Given Moscow’s strong desire to be perceived as a great power, Xi likely had Putin and company at “my first overseas trip.”
Read the full 2 page story at The Diplomat