Under the rising authority of several big Powers and the growth of their influence in the international scene, the United States continues to pursue a policy in accordance with its previous geopolitical strategy aimed at world predominance. US President Donald Trump, assuming a rather aggressive political course, seeks to prove to the world community that the United States is still a hegemonic power with which no other country can compete.
However, such an understanding of the situation is highly subjective and inconsistent with today’s realities of a multipolar world. A number of analysts criticize the US position and put forward their own hypotheses regarding the current and future state of the world.
For example, an American columnist for “The Hill” Jeff Hawn in his recent article suggested that Russia and China could soon form an alliance to confront the US and NATO. The author calls such a union the “Eastern Entente.” In his opinion, the West underestimates China–Russia relations in their believing that the two countries will not be able to create a strong alliance.
The journalist noted that countries of the West explain their position with territorial disputes, rivalry in Central Asia and some “historically established mutual hostility” between Russia and China.
However, the reality shows that today, against the background of the strained relations between Russia and the West, the continuation of anti-Russian sanctions and the worsening situation in Syria and Ukraine, China and Russia continue to deepen their relations of strategic partnership and collaboration, develop cooperation in many areas, including, for example, interaction in the SCO and BRICS.
According to research on the development of China–Russia relations the situation is as follows. The impossibility of a strong Russian-Chinese alliance is not explained by territorial contradictions, since they are not insoluble. The disagreements between the countries began in the 17th century. There was the conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway, then several clashes on the Soviet-Chinese border on Damansky Island that nearly resulted in a full-scale war. Today, both countries are seeking influence in the Central Asian region. However, none of the above “does not preclude them from forming a mutually beneficial arrangement,” the positive consequences of which are obvious to both sides.
An important factor that contributes to the establishment of such mutually beneficial agreement between the two countries is that neither Russia nor China have ever claimed to change one another’s ideology. The United States meanwhile aims to pursue a policy characterized by the desire to impose its government system and spread their values across the world.
Experts assign another point of convergence between the views of Russia and China. Both countries clearly see the desire of the United States in any way to weaken their influence on the world stage. However, such efforts are the opposite: they further strengthen the readiness of Moscow and Beijing to combine efforts and pursue mutually beneficial policies. The pressure that Washington is putting on Moscow and Beijing serves as an additional incentive for their early unification.
The American government is particularly concerned by the high level of cooperation between Russia and China in the military sphere and in the field of regional security. This does not mean however that the “Eastern Entente” aims at conquering the United States or opposing NATO. The point is that this will help the two countries to gain influence, thereby ensuring favourable conditions for their own economic growth and security.
From the US point of view, this will have the most serious consequences both for them and for the whole world. This is what caused both the attempts to influence the development of the economy of Russia and China and the desire to bring discord in their relations.
The leading scientific member of the Institute of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Larin adheres to a similar position on military cooperation.
“Talks on this topic have been going on for a very long time both in Russia and in China. The fact is that the geopolitical situation develops in such a way that makes Russia and China to come closer together, since both powers are threatened by the expressionist policy of the United States.
In fact, there is a number of different views on the fundamental problems of our time between Russia and China, besides the general opinions that unite them. This makes the anti-American alliance virtually impossible”, according to the expert.
This approach leads to the obvious conclusion that Russia is unlikely to ever interfere in relations between China and the United States on a wide range of issues. Among them there is the issue of the situation in the South China Sea where China has strengthened and established its own military base on the islands. China considers these islands historically its territory. In addition, the United States has repeatedly sent its destroyers to patrol this area. Such actions cause Chinese discontent. Some experts, who agree with Lukin’s opinion, consider the possible intervention of Russia in these relations as tantamount to the intervention of China in matters relating to Ukraine and the Crimea.
Each country has to defend its own national interests with respecting the sovereignty of other states in any controversial issues. The current close political partnership between the two countries might be the best form of China–Russia relations and it is not known whether they will ever grow into a real military-political alliance against the United States. It is very important now that the United States and the West act with little regard for the possibility of creating such a union.
Whatever the case, an analysis of current China–Russia relations indicates that it is pointless to expect the creation of an “Eastern Entente” as it already exists. The question is what future awaits it and what the relations of the leading powers will become if a new, such a powerful political actor appears on the world scene.
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