How Western pressure is pushing China and Russia ever closer

Beijing and Moscow have intensified their collaboration, ranging from deepening military, political and economic ties to hitting new levels of cooperation on energy and space research

This comes amid increasing rhetoric targeting the two from the US, Nato, the G7, the EU and others

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Danil Bochkov

Danil Bochkov is an expert at the Russian International Affairs Council.

Published: 3:30am, 20 Dec 2021

No sooner had the video conference between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin finished than Biden promised “devastating consequences” in the form of new sanctions against Moscow should it act recklessly on Ukraine. Putin detailed Russia’s red lines on Ukraine, including deployment of strike weapons and Nato’s eastward expansion.

Instead of seeking compromise, the US and its allies appear to be growing more acrimonious towards Russia as well as China. In October, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin attended the first post-pandemic meeting of the transatlantic security alliance’s defence ministers, putting China on the summit’s agenda along with Russia’s “malign activities”.

The US deemed China a “pacing threat” during the meeting, while Nato identified it as a challenge in artificial intelligence and weapons systems. Nato Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana went on to detail China’s advancements and how it was “expanding its global economic and military footprint in Africa, in the Arctic and in cyberspace. And it’s investing in our own critical infrastructure, from 5G networks to ports and airports.”

China’s rise and the Russian threat dominated Nato’s agenda, and both were incorporated into a revised version of the group’s 10-year strategy, released on November 25. The new document described China as a “systemic challenge” to Nato on a par with Russia, a stark departure from the previous 10-year strategy document which did not mention China at all.