China and Russia have vowed to strengthen bilateral military co-operation
and hold joint naval exercises to counter US influence in the
Asia-Pacific region as a growing chorus of voices warns of a looming “new cold war”.
During a visit to Beijing where he met his Chinese counterpart and
Premier Li Keqiang, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the two
sides “expressed our concern with the US attempts to reinforce its
military political influence in the Asia-Pacific region”, Chinese and
Russian state media reported.
“Our
co-operation in the military spheres has great potential and the
Russian side is ready to develop it across the broadest possible
spectrum of areas,” Mr Shoigu added. “We see the formation of a
collective regional security system as the primary objective of our
joint efforts.”
The Russian delegation also drew a parallel between the current pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong
and the so-called “colour revolutions” in former Soviet states,
including Ukraine, which China and Russia blame on instigation from the
US and its allies.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s deputy defence minister, even seemed to
suggest Moscow would be willing to help Beijing tackle the peaceful
protests in Hong Kong.
“We have taken note of the events that recently took place in Hong
Kong and the two ministers acknowledged that not a single country can
feel insured against colour revolutions,” Mr Antonov said, according to
Russian state media. “We believe that Russia and China should work
together to oppose this new challenge to our states’ security.”
The two sides agreed to hold joint naval exercises, their fourth in
recent years, in the Mediterranean next spring, to be followed by
further exercises in the Pacific. As fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s neighbours
fret over Moscow’s rising belligerence, Beijing has described
Sino-Russian relations as the best they have ever been.
The current situation in Europe prompted former Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev to warn last week that the world was on the brink of a new
cold war, a sentiment echoed by Belarusian officials on Tuesday.
Facing the prospect of fresh sanctions from the west, Russian
President Vladimir Putin has sought to move closer to China to
demonstrate he has economic and strategic options and is not completely
isolated on the global stage.
China’s
authoritarian leaders have welcomed the overtures as they also make
more strident territorial claims in the East and South China Seas and
seek to face down smaller neighbours and Japan, their second world war
enemy.
But both sides remain wary of getting too close and have trouble
overcoming a long history of mutual mistrust and contempt, according to
Chinese and western experts who monitor the relationship.
For all the talk of closer military ties and joint exercises, Russia
has so far refused to sell its most advanced military technology,
including jet engines and fighter aircraft, to China. Beijing has sought to balance closer ties to Moscow with greater
co-operation with the US and its allies, while Mr Putin has sought to
boost relations with Tokyo, much to China’s dismay.
Even as the Russian defence minister was meeting his Chinese
counterpart Chang Wanquan on Tuesday, a top Chinese Communist party
official was visiting Finland, which is on high alert for any sign of
Russian encroachment.
At the same time, a top-level delegation from North Korea
met Mr Putin in the Kremlin amid speculation the country’s leader Kim
Jong Un would make a first overseas visit as leader to Russia, rather
than to China, its traditional ally.
Chinese
officials say ties between Pyongyang and Beijing have reached an
all-time low since Mr Kim took over the hermit kingdom and particularly
since he executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was seen as China’s
key contact in the country.
During the defence minister’s visit, Russia’s federal space agency
also discussed closer co-operation with China, which is interested in
building Russian rocket engines and joining manned space exploration,
remote sensing and navigation satellite projects, according to Russian
state media.
Sino-Russian postwar relations: from rocky to robust
1950 – Mao Zedong travels to Moscow to sign a Treaty
of Friendship, which consists of a $300m loan to help rebuild the
newly-born but war-ravaged People’s Republic of China, and a military
alliance against Japanese aggression
1960 – After several years of tensions, in part down
to divergences in Marxist ideology, relations collapse. This
Sino-Soviet split come to be seen as one of the key events in the Cold
War
1969 – Tensions flare in an undeclared seven-month-long border conflict that brings the PRC and Soviet Union to the brink of war
1972 – The visit to China by President Richard Nixon
results in the first meeting between US and Chinese leaders for 25
years. The revival in political and trade ties moves China closer to the
west, and away from Moscow
1980s – After a prolonged freeze, Soviet and Chinese
leaders make a series of conciliatory gestures aimed at restoring
political relations
1991 – Diplomatic relations between Beijing and Moscow dramatically improve following the collapse of the Soviet Union
1996 - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and
Tajikistan form the foundations of a political, economic and military
organisation, later renamed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation when
Uzbekistan joins in 2001
2010 – China and Russia announce they will use their
own national currencies for bilateral trade rather than the US dollar.
Separately, a 1,000km crude oil pipeline is completed – the first
between Russia and China
