China & Russia Seek Closer Security Cooperation Amidst Growing American Influence
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomes his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Beijing, China. Source: Reuters
On Tuesday, April 9, Chinese State Official Wang Yi hosted his Russian counterpart Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing for talks on economic and security cooperation. The new cooperative measures are set to displace American influence in Asia and Europe, the United States’ most strategically important region and former most strategically important region, according to political scientist and professor John Mearsheimer. Minister Lavrov stated on Tuesday, “for a long time, there was a Euro-Atlantic security structure in the form of NATO… as well as the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) [these were not] structures within which it [was] possible to conduct meaningful negotiations and agree on something based on a balance of interests.” Thus, the meeting has been interpreted as a quasi-restructuring of the international order as it pertains to Eurasia.
This would not be the first time China has attempted to upset the existing international structure created by the United States in Asia. Rush Doshi, the former Director for China and Taiwan in the Biden National Security Council, has noted that through a strategy of political blunting and building (blunting existing American influence, and building indigenous Chinese led institutions in the Indo-Pacific) “China has spearheaded the launch of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the empowering of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA)... to shape regional order in the economic and security domains in directions it preferred.” In essence, China, for at least the past fifteen years, has been attempting to subvert existing US-led multinational institutions in Asia and replace them with new Chinese-backed institutions.
Traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls, called Matryoshkas, depicting President Xi Jinping of China, left, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, right. Source: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA
This meeting marks a significant evolution in the Sino-Russian relationship. Although ideologically similar for much of the past century, the two nations considered each other enemies after the Sino-Soviet split in the latter half of the 20th century, each at one point seeing themselves closer to the United States than their Communist counterpart. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China and the new Russian state shifted from an adversarial to more neutral relationship. Now, with the war in Ukraine, the Sino-American power competition, and the looming threat over a militaristic showdown in Taiwan, Russia and China appear closer than ever. This is due in large part to the now mutual resentment of the United States, resulting in the total expulsion of the American wedge which helped keep the two nations apart during the Sino-Soviet split. Under the influence of Mackinder’s Heartland Theory, US grand strategy since World War II has focused on keeping one hegemon/alliance bloc from dominating the entire Eurasian supercontinent; the continued preponderance of the Sino-Russian relationship may just be the fatal blow to this fading strategy.
The two ministers did not give many specifics during their meeting and ensuing press conference, signaling that the meeting was more of a signal of joint-intention rather than a substantive discussion. The few details shared by the foreign ministers were that there would be “strengthen[ed] communication [between Moscow] and Beijing… maintain[ed] social security and stability… [a] shared drive to reform global governance… [and a] consolidating and enhancing” of the two nations’ foreign policies. In the coming months, the international community will likely see what substantive actions result from this meeting. However, as of now, the meeting gives an accurate temperature check of the Sino-Russian relationship as it stands.