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China has come to Russia’s rescue before, and may do so again as US pressure mounts
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Why you can trust SCMP
I was a young teacher of Marxist-Leninist political economy in Siberia when I watched the 1987 Hollywood film Wall Street, in which a rogue trader becomes rich after learning that his competitor had flown off in his private jet to a small town to sign a contract. Later life imitated art: on hearing in 1998 that George Soros had flown into Nizhny Novgorod to meet Russian Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko, I invested all my money in a property in Moscow. Unfortunately, two months later, a spectacular financial crash followed.
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Then, in 2014, Russia took over Crimea and the fallout nearly caused a currency crisis. However, a trip from China’s Premier Li Keqiang saved the day. An article in the Post, “Russia may seek China help to deal with crisis” (December 2014) was used to pacify investors as it mentioned an agreement signed with China to bail out the rouble if needed.
One wonders what senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi’s visit to Moscow (“China, Russia prepare for strategic security talks in Moscow as pressure from United States grows”, August 9) will bring? Possibly this time a trade crisis will be averted.
Mergen Mongush, Moscow, Russia
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