From China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly:
Russia is the world’s second largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, and China the world’s second largest oil consumer, after the United States. While bilateral trade-flows are still small, there is great potential inherent in the relationship. Old hostilities have been put aside after the final settlement in 2004 of a series of disputes along the 3645-km border which had plagued Sino-Russo relations for centuries and caused war in 1969. Moreover, Beijing and Moscow have compatible views on separatism, Islamism, terrorism, democratization and stability. American commentators such as Peter Brookes of the Heritage Foundation have argued that the Sino-Russian relationship undercuts U.S. global interests “on an unprecedented scale.” This article explores whether the strategic convergence is sufficiently strong for the two states to set aside their differences, and build a sustainable partnership. The article aims for as neutral a stance as possible, neither cheering on nor condemning cooperation between China and Russia. Instead it aims to provide a simple assessment of the scope for closer cooperation between the two countries on the basis of strategic convergence. [Full Text]
Kyrre Elvenes Brækhus is a Mandarin Language Scholar at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Indra Øverland is Director of the Energy Program at Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo, Norway.
