China-Russia ties

 Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with China's director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, 22 February 2023. (Anton Novoderezhkin/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)

What Russia's possible collapse could mean for China

Swedish academic Stefan Hedlund points out that China is weighing its options very carefully as to how much it should intervene to ensure a stalemate or renewed freezing of conflict in the Ukraine war. From China's point of view, while there are certain gains to Russia being further weakened, Russia's total fall would also spell trouble for China.
A pigeon flies in front of the Kremlin's Spasskaya tower (left) and Saint Basil's cathedral (centre) in Moscow on 1 March 2023. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP)

Russia could decline into a failed state

Chinese academic Zhang Tiankan believes that while Russia looks and acts tough like a major power, it is in fact not as powerful as it thinks, or wants others to think. It has a long way to go before having the same influence as other world powers.
In 1954, First Secretary of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev visited China and had a good discussion with Chinese President Mao Zedong. This was when China-Soviet relations were at their closest. However, bilateral ties went downhill soon after.

[Photo story] 100 years of China-Russia relations

Over the past century, China’s relations with the Soviet Union — and later Russia — have had its ups and downs. From early communist links and Soviet occupation of China, to today’s economic dealings, China’s leaders have navigated the tricky waters of history and geopolitics. Historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao gives us a window into the past.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping before an extended-format meeting of heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit (SCO) member states in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 16 September 2022. (Sergey Bobylev/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)

What a weakened Russia would mean for China

It seems that the longer the war in Ukraine drags on, the more dependent Russia will be on China. After more than three centuries of Russia-China relations, it seems that the situation is coming full circle and Russia is becoming increasingly subordinate to China.
A view shows the State Historical Museum (C), St Basil's Cathedral (R) and one of the Stalin-era skyscrapers in downtown Moscow on 11 July 2022. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP)

No more Mongol-Russian style empire: Thoughts on the war in Ukraine

Chinese academic Deng Xize notes that the Mongol and Russian empires were very similar in origin and nature, but the conditions that allowed their rise and spread no longer exist today, leading to their inevitable decline. The global reaction to the war in Ukraine in fact shows that such empires will no longer be tolerated.
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries, including Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, attend a narrow-format meeting at a summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 16 September 2022. (Sergey Bobylev/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)

Xi Jinping's China dream keeps the world awake at night

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan highlights his bid to advance his vision of the China dream. This, however, will require changes in the global balance of power that countries around the world, including Southeast Asian countries, will find hard to manage. How will China proceed from here, and will it be able to win allies along the way?
China's President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and other participants attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 16 September 2022. (Sergei Bobylyov/Sputnik/AFP)

China gains stronger foothold in Central Asian region

Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan analyses the outcomes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Uzbekistan and the implications of China’s perceived stronger courting of the Central Asia region.
China's President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on 15 September 2022. (Alexandr Demyanchuk/AFP)

Xi-Putin meeting in Uzbekistan: China pulling back from Russia

China seems to be pulling back while Russia wants to take a step forward, as seen from the Xi-Putin parlay at their meeting in Uzbekistan. But the delicate dance is not only at the surface level of the Ukraine war, but China’s deeper strategic goals in Central Asia, where Russia considers itself a dominant power.
A screen shows a CCTV state media news broadcast of Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressing the BRICS Business Forum via video link, at a shopping center in Beijing, China, 23 June 2022. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

China’s Global Security Initiative stoking regional tensions

China has doubled down on its alignment with Russia against the West. This has led to a proliferation of minilaterals and security partnerships aligned with the US. China's launch of its Global Security Initiative is not helping to assuage Western worries of Chinese ambitions and countries in the region are also wary. What will this mean for Southeast Asia?