The Changing Context and Character of Russo-Chinese Relations

Abstract

On the same day of the gas agreement signing, Presidents Xi and Putin also inaugurated in Shanghai a large scale 6-day joint China-Russia naval exercise off East China Sea. But more significantly, at the little noticed Summit of the 4th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia ("CICA" for short) held in Shanghai on May 21st attended by 11 heads of states including President Xi and President Putin, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary General, delegates from 26 member states (mostly Asian nations) and some Observer states including the US, a new theme for national security was pronounced for the Summit. President Putin has denied any China threat and said that Russia hopes to ‘‘catch the wind from China’s sails.’’17) Defense relations have, in fact, evidently greatly improved since 2010. The goal of this article is to analyze changing Russo-Chinese relations under Xi and Putin in the context of shifting Asia-Pacific international relations. The analysis of the nature of Russo-Chinese relations comes first. The second section will examine the recent Russo-Chinese gas deal and its impact. The third section will clarify the North Korean factor in Russo-Chinese relations. The final section will study the impact of North Korea’s rapprochement with Russia on Northeast Asian international relations.