Foreign and domestic media appear to disagree on the benefits to China of Dimitry Medvedev’s almost certain victory in the Russian presidential elections. First, the view from Chinese government, courtesy of China Daily:
The Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership will be further strengthened if Dimitry Medvedev is elected president, Chinese analysts believe …
… Medvedev’s familiarity with China will also be an important factor if he is elected. “Medvedev understands the importance of China because he has long been responsible for China affairs in Putin’s administration”, Yang said.
“He was actually Moscow’s top figure behind the successful holding of the Year of China in Russia in 2006 and the Year of Russia here in 2007.”
The International Herald Tribune, meanwhile, is less optimistic. David Lague reports that Russia is selling fewer arms to China, which could represent a “strategic pause” for the two countries.
Longstanding Chinese claims on territory in the Russian Far East, competition for energy and water resources and illegal migration from China underscore the potential for tension between the two countries. And while they continue to enjoy warm ties, some Russians point to the Chinese-Soviet split that culminated with border clashes in 1969 as a reminder that friction could return.
“Russians feel genuinely concerned, in the medium to longer term, that Russian and Chinese interests may collide again,” said Alexey Muraviev, a strategic affairs analyst at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. “There is this debate about whether we should arm the Chinese when they may eventually use them against us.”
Some Chinese analysts suggest that Russia, the world’s second-ranked arms supplier behind the United States, is also concerned about the threat of competition from the Chinese defense industry.
Follow-up: Dmitry Medvedev has won the presidential elections — as predicted — with almost 70 percent of the vote.
