The president of Russia Wladimir Putin will be looking for attention from a few miles further off, in China, whose rise as a trading and diplomatic partner but also as a potential rival for control of thinly populated Siberia’s resources has brought a new focus in Moscow on both business and military investment in the far East.
Regional security and energy cooperation are the main points of visit Putin in China. Wladimir Putin who have met Chinese leaders in Beijing on Tuesday as he settles back into his role in the Kremlin, has poured money into the Vladivostok area since it was chosen about five years ago to host this September’s Asia-Pacific.
Newly reinstalled as president after four years as prime minister to his protege Dmitry Medviediev, Putin met EU officials in St Petersburg on Monday before embarking on a state visit to China. He will meet there President Hu Jintao and attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which also includes former Soviet states in central Asia.
West’s Russian actions in Syria
Among the talks between Russia – the world’s biggest energy producer, and China – the largest and biggest consumer of energy, will be a natural gas deal which Moscow hopes to finalize after years of negotiation. Also of this case is a multi-billion dollar joint venture to build a long-haul aircraft confirmed the Russian media, and a state-run fund to invest in Russian and Chinese projects.
Russian trade with China has risen about 40 % year on year for the last two years and Russian officials say that a target to have $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015 is likely to be reached ahead of time.
Russia and China as cooporating countries
Russia and China have repeatedly defied calls by the international community to confront Syria’s regime over spiraling violence. The two famous countries saying they will not back steps that could lead to foreign intervention.
Russia has long been a close ally of President Bashar Assad’s regime, while Beijing opposes setting precedents that could potentially be applied to its troubled western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. Both countries also oppose further sanctions against Iran over its suspected drive to develop nuclear weapons.
But the West should not expect China and Russia’s cooperation if it insists on dictating their own values and mindsets to the world by any means it can. It will instead find China and Russia standing in its way.
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