With U.S.-Russia relationship toxic, Moscow looks to strengthen ties with China

In China’s case, all the recent talk in the US of a “pivot to Asia” has Beijing worried that it may be in danger of being isolated by US pressure. China’s standoff with Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, with the attendant danger of drawing in Japan’s main ally, the US, could be focusing Chinese minds on the desirability of strengthening relations with Russia…

“We look at Beijing, and we don’t hear them lecturing us about human rights and how to conduct democracy. There is no missionary element on either side. But there is strong economic incentive. The Chinese economy is a factory, and we have the energy to power that factory. That’s a pretty solid basis,” he says…

Russia has recently agreed to sell 24 advanced, multirole Sukhoi Su-35 fighters to China. And, according to a new report from the Carnegie Endowment, Moscow may now be willing to help China in areas where it lags technologically, such as aircraft engines.

In the longer term, Russia desperately needs Chinese investment, labor, and expertise in its drive to develop its vast Siberian territories . But here, Russian experts say, is the biggest reason that despite all strong arguments for tighter relations, Russia may continue to hold China at arm’s length: Siberia, though rich in resources, is virtually devoid of population. Next door China is teeming with people and explosive economic energies.