Tag: China
NEWSLINK The National Interest/Dave Majumdar: “The U.S. Military’s Greatest Fear: Russia and China are Catching Up Fast”
Russia eyes $12.6 billion windfall from privatization of state companies
In 2016 the government intends to sell a part of the shares in its large raw commodity companies. The buyers can be foreign investors, but on certain conditions. It has already been announced that shares in Russia’s largest diamond mining company, Alrosa, will be sold through the Moscow Stock Exchange. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANNA KUCHMA, RBTH […]
» Read moreWill Chinese factories pollute the Russian Far East?
Experts from WWF’s Amur branch assess the environmental impact of moving certain Chinese industries to Russia’s highly forested peripheral eastern region. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ELENA FEDICHKINA, EVGENY SHVARTS, SPECIAL TO RBTH – May 13, 2016) China’s proposal to relocate some of its production facilities to the Russian Far East has provoked heated debates among many experts. […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Russia Direct: “Who will lead in Asia-Pacific – the US, China or Russia? The country that will be the first to offer an acceptable set of rules and norms for economic development will ensure its leading position in the Asia-Pacific region”
How Russia is moving ahead with its Asian pivot
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently visited Mongolia and Japan. His goal was to initiate a real “Eastern turn” in Russian foreign policy. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – GEVORG MIRZAYAN, RBTH – April 20, 2016) At first glance Russia made an Eastward turn a long time before the West imposed sanctions on the country. However, until now we […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Financial Times: “Western sanctions ‘pushing Russia towards closer ties with China.’ Western sanctions are pushing Russia to explore deeper financial links with China, according to Moscow’s deputy finance minister”
Russians believe Belarus, China, Kazakhstan are the friendliest to them
(Interfax – April 9, 2016) As many as 68% of Russian respondents interviewed by the Public Opinion Foundation and asked to name three countries they believe are the closest and the friendliest ones to Russia mentioned Belarus, 56% China and 50% Kazakhstan. These very three countries have remained on top of the list since April 2014. The April poll of […]
» Read moreU.S. National Intelligence Director Says Russia Is Paranoid, Aggressive
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – February 10, 2016) Russia is “paranoid” about NATO and is likely to continue “aggressive” actions this year to support its claim to great power status, U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper said in Senate testimony Tuesday. In a report on “Worldwide Threat Assessment” that Clapper presented to the Senate, Russia topped a […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “Russia and China: friends with benefits. As the two nations forge closer ties, will they be able to overcome their frequently fraught history? Kathrin Hille investigates.” – Financial Times
NEWSLINK: “America Reveals ‘Great Power’ Plans Against Russia and China” – The National Interest
Is There A Non-West for Russia to Lead?
(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – Keith Darden – January 28, 2016 – ponarseurasia.org/memo/non-west-for-russia-to-lead) Keith Darden is Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University. (PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) Recently, Russian policymakers and strategists have articulated a vision of a vibrant non-Western world, one in which the United States and European leaders are increasingly marginal and where Russia […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK CNBC: “Why Russia’s pivot East is crucial for its own survival”
NEWSLINK Russia Direct: “Russia, China and the US need to work together in 2016. At the Gaidar Forum in Moscow, Russian and foreign experts discussed the role of the great powers in shaping the current system of international relations, as well as the potential ability for Russia and the U.S. to find common ground in 2016”
China’s Economic Turmoil Ruins Russia’s New Year
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – January 14, 2016) New fears over China’s economy and sharp falls in the price of oil have worsened the outlook for Russia as it tries to emerge from recession. The price of crude, the linchpin of Russia’s economy, fell almost 20 percent in the first two weeks of January to just above […]
» Read moreRussian-Chinese Trade Plummets in 2015
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 13, 2016) The volume of Chinese exports to Russia fell by 34.4 percent last year to $32.9 billion, the TASS news agency reported Wednesday, citing China’s customs department. Trade turnover between China and Russia dropped by 27.8 percent to $64.2 billion in 2015. The volume of Russia’s exports to China declined last year by […]
» Read moreSino-Russian energy relations reversed: a new little brother
Don’t be fooled. Russia’s growing ties to China may not be what they seem. (opendemocracy.net – Morena Skalamera – December 22, 2015) Morena Skalamera is a post-doctoral fellow at the Belfer Center, Harvard University, where she researches the geopolitics of energy and European-Russian energy co-operation. In the year since Russia and China signed a landmark $400bn natural gas pact in […]
» Read moreTRANSCRIPT: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with Renmin Ribao
(Government.ru – December 13, 2015) Ahead of his visit to China, Dmitry Medvedev gave an interview to the Chinese daily. Question: Russia and China are good neighbours, reliable partners and friends. The leaders of the two countries frequently meet each other and are consistent in their efforts to strengthen bilateral relations as a comprehensive strategic partnership, which has already become […]
» Read moreOver one-third of Russians expect big changes in country following ‘shift to the East’ – poll
MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) – Russians believe that Russia and Asian countries are being drawn together primarily through common interests in political (20%) and economical (25%) areas, a public opinion poll conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) suggests. However, almost half of the respondents (47%) could not decide what mostly gives a common ground to Russia and […]
» Read more2015: A mixed bag for Russia’s Asian ‘Pivot’; Ties with ASEAN and China grow, but relationship with Japan remains frosty
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – AJAY KAMALAKARAN, RBTH – December 10, 2015) Russia’s strategic and economic push towards Asia achieved mixed results in 2015, with Moscow strengthening ties with ASEAN countries and China, while its ties with Japan and Australia remained frosty. “When it comes to Asia, the biggest strategic economic gains came to Russia from the ASEAN […]
» Read moreRIA Novosti : “Russian envoy: Raised focus on relations with China predates Western sanctions”
(RIA Novosti – December 8, 2015) Russian ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Andrey Denisov has denied that Russia’s “eastward turn” – its visible attempt to improve relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily China – was a response to the introduction of sanctions against Russia by several Western countries; rather, he said, it had been mooted over […]
» Read moreMost of investments into Russia in past year come from Asian market – Putin
(Interfax – November 13, 2015) Around 90 percent of the investments made into Russia in the past year are the resources of the Asian market, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Interfax and Anadolu news agencies on Friday ahead of the G20 summit in Antalya. “Obviously, cooperation with Asian partners in attracting funds gains special relevance […]
» Read moreThe Pentagon’s Lonely War Against Russia and China
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Josh Rogin – November 11, 2015) At last weekend’s Reagan National Defense Forum, top Pentagon officials warned about the coming great power battles with Russia and China. But the U.S. approach to both countries shows that other parts of the administration view those relationships in a very different way. Before Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s keynote speech […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK The National Interest/Lyle Goldstein: “Russia and China: Beware the Budding Eurasian Colossus? Could these two great powers get even closer?”
RBTH: Negotiations on Ukraine are a marriage of convenience
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – TROIKA REPORT: Sergey Strokan, Vladimir Mikheev – September 3, 2015) 1. Engaging the West Negotiations on Ukraine: a marriage of convenience amid new crisis A stormy session in Ukraine’s parliament this week while debating the proposed decentralization of governance in the eastern Donbass region, followed by a bloody riot in Kiev, signaled a […]
» Read morePutin Flies to China Amid Economic Gloom
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – September 2, 2015) President Vladimir Putin will be one of the most noteworthy guests at Chinese celebrations to mark the end of World War II when he arrives in Beijing on Wednesday, even as fraying economic ties between the two giant countries undermine the Kremlin’s “pivot to the East.” The Russian delegation […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK The National Interest/Mathew Burrows, Robert A. Manning: “America’s Worst Nightmare: Russia and China Are Getting Closer. Will an inverted U.S.-China-Russia triangle reshape the world order?”
NEWSWATCH Moscow Times/Sarah Lain: Russia Faces Facts on China
Writing in The Moscow Times, Sarah Lain, of the Royal United Services Institute, examines evolving Sino-Russian relations. Russia … cannot, and will not try to, compete with China’s growing economic influence … Russia’s leading multilateral economic foreign policy project … the Eurasian Economic Union … has … suffered from a variety of tensions …. Chinese investment via the Silk Road Economic Belt … could help […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Wall Street Journal/Ariel Cohen: How Russia Could Become a Food Superpower
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Ariel Cohen addresses historical shifts in Russian agriculture, and what the future might hold. Russia could be a food superpower, given its vast soil and water resources. It still may become one, but the question is whether the food will be Western or Chinese. Since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, the Russian economy has […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Christian Science Monitor: Islamist threat to Russia looms large at Central Asia security summit
The Kremlin is increasingly concerned about an Islamist uprising in one of the weak autocracies along its southern flank, all of which will be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit today in Ufa, Russia
» Read morePutin calls for BRICS to assert financial independence from West
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – July 10, 2015) With a total GDP of $32 trillion and uniting 43% of the world’s population, the BRICS grouping of emerging powers took an assertive global stance at its annual summit in the Russian city of Ufa, as it unrolled plans to rival Western-dominated financial institutions. Marking the organisation’s seventh […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Reuters/Björn Düben: Why Russia’s turn to China is a mirage
Russian weapons face West’s economic wall
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Rakesh Krishnan Simha, special to RBTH – July 8, 2015) Despite being technologically ahead, Russian weapons face a virtual ban in the West. However, the picture is entirely different in Asia. Russian weapons are good enough for China and India – countries flush with cash and able to afford the best – but […]
» Read moreRussia Searches for Post-G8 Footing at BRICS Summit
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – July 8, 2015) The leaders of the world’s biggest emerging economies will meet in Russia on Thursday for a powwow that Moscow hopes will demonstrate the futility of Western efforts to isolate the country. The summit of the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – that opens Wednesday […]
» Read moreInterfax: Putin says Russia can overcome difficulties in international politics, economy by pooling efforts with China
UFA. July 8 (Interfax) – Russia is aware of the difficulties it has been encountering in international politics and the economy but is confident it can overcome them by pooling efforts with China, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. “We are perfectly aware of the difficulties we have to face in the economy and international politics but, by joint efforts, […]
» Read moreRIA Novosti: No plans for military alliance with Moscow, says Chinese envoy
(RIA Novosti – June 30, 2015) Li Hui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, has said that Beijing has no plans to form a military alliance with Moscow. He made this statement during an in-depth interview published on the website of RIA Novosti (part of the state-owned International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya) on 30 June. (http://bit.ly/1FNjB7z) No threat to third parties […]
» Read moreRussia-China pipeline to be largest infrastructure project in world – premier
(Interfax – June 29, 2015) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has announced that the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, which is set to run from Russia to China, will be the world’s largest infrastructure project, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 29 June. Speaking at a ceremony dedicated to the start of construction of the Chinese part of the […]
» Read moreRussia’s Pivot to China Is Real
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – June 25, 2015) The search for alternative investors and markets has been a political priority for President Vladimir Putin and his government since Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russia last year. The resulting pivot to China may seem merely cosmetic, but it is happening. Admittedly, most of the vague and extremely long-term […]
» Read moreRussian Films Burst Onto Chinese Stage
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – March 24, 2015) Russian movies, which have struggled to gain a footing abroad since the fall of the Soviet Union, are now breaking into the world’s second-largest box office just across the border in China. In 2013, the big-budget war film “Stalingrad” became the first Russian movie to get a wide release […]
» Read moreFears of Chinese Expansion Mar Budding Alliance With Russia
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 25, 2015) The image of Russia’s increasingly friendly relations with China took something of a battering this week when a regional governor’s stated intention to rent out swathes of land to a Chinese investment company was met at home by a storm of indignation. After the governor of the Zabaikalsky region […]
» Read morePutin Offers Little Change at Russia’s Top Economic Forum
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko and Peter Hobson – ST. PETERSBURG, June 22, 2015) More than a year into an economic firestorm that is pushing Russia into its first recession in six years, Russia’s flagship economic forum in St. Petersburg was titled “Time to Act.” With Western sanctions over Ukraine and fallen oil prices battering the economy, thousands […]
» Read moreRussia Embraces Yuan in Move Against U.S. Dollar Hegemony
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – June 16, 2015) Russian financial authorities, energy companies and state-controlled banks are stepping up their use of China’s yuan currency as Western sanctions spur diversification away from the U.S. dollar. In recent weeks, major Russian institutions have lined up to announce moves to use the yuan, which will likely emerge as the […]
» Read moreWorld’s economic centre of gravity continues shift east
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – June 9, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/bnechart-worlds-economic-centre-gravity-continues-shift-east] The leaders of the G7 industrialised nations met in Berlin on June 7, but their decisions are becoming less and less relevant to the rest of the world as the centre of global economic gravity moves relentlessly east. In 1990, the centre of […]
» Read moreInterfax: Russians like Belarus and China, have aversion to U.S., EU and Ukraine – poll
(Interfax – June 8, 2015) Most Russians speak ill of the United States, the European Union and Ukraine and see Belarus, China and Kazakhstan as friends, the Levada Center has told Interfax. Seventy-three percent of 1,700 respondents polled in 134 populated localities on May 22-25 expressed negative feelings for the U.S., 15 percent said the opposite, and 12 percent were […]
» Read moreUS aim to “contain” Russia, China a concern – Russian security official
(Interfax – May 30, 2015) The US policy in the Asia-Pacific region is viewed by Russia with concern as it aims to “contain” both Russia and China, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoliy Antonov has said. Separately, Antonov did not rule out “open confrontation” in the region faced with “new challenges and threats”. His remarks were reported by the Russian news […]
» Read moreMoscow Times: Russia Declared Best of BRICS in Developing Human Capital
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – May 14, 2015) Russia on Wednesday claimed 26th place in a global ranking of countries’ ability to foster human capital thanks to its highly educated populace, putting it first among the BRICS group of developing nations. Among BRICS members Russia led by a mile, according to the survey of 124 economies published […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK The Atlantic: China and Russia Grow Even Closer
Xi Jinping’s appearance at Vladimir Putin’s side at the Victory Parade in Moscow signifies a deepened relationship based on a common adversary: the United States
» Read moreBuilding a fragile EM coalition
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – May 11, 2015) The May 9 victory parade on Red Square was a show of strength by Russia, which is locked in conflict with Ukraine and the West. But it was also a show of solidarity by some emerging markets that have sided, to a greater or lesser degree and with […]
» Read moreIs Gazprom’s changing export strategy a threat to Europe?
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – James Henderson – April 17, 2015) James Henderson is Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies The visit of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to Moscow in May to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II could also mark the next stage in Russia’s “pivot to Asia” if, as some […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH Deutsche Welle: Russia’s pivot to Asia – A Sino-Russian Entente?
The rupture between Russia and the West stemming from the Ukraine crisis has led Moscow to expand ties with Asia, especially China. Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, talks to DW about the implications.
» Read more