Russia’s interest in closer relations with China is nothing new. Since 2014, Moscow has actively courted Beijing to help offset pressure from the West. What the pandemic has done, however, is further convince Russia that China is the future, said Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. ...
Some in Moscow, however, are worried that Russia could end up a loser in a new U.S.-China cold war. Although Russia has previously benefited from increased tensions between Washington and Beijing, recent developments threaten to go too far, warned Dmitry Suslov, a professor of international relations at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
“A continued intensification of the U.S.-Chinese confrontation presents Russia with serious challenges because the more serious this showdown becomes, the more pressure there will be on Russia to pick a side, something that it does not want to do,” he said.
Yes, Russia would prefer to have America and China slug it out, leaving Russia to pick up the pieces.
It's one thing to pretend to be a friend of China until Russia can safely resist China without provoking a Chinese attack to liberate huge chunks of the Russian Far East from Russian control.
Being an actual ally of China in a struggle against America and the West is another thing altogether. Being Xi Jinping's sidekick just might mean hanging from a lamppost before Xi's final end in a bunker.
Of course, if China has to focus inland for trade instead of sea trade with a now-suspicious and angry world, that might not work out for Russia.
One thing for sure, by forfeiting ties with the West that the West wanted Russia to forge after winning the Cold War, Putin has chosen poorly.
So far all Putin has managed to do is alienate NATO while failing to build up the power to resist China.
Stop saying Putin is a strategic genius.
