Under Xi Jinping China-Russia ties are defined by global interests and unity in opposition, report finds
- A German think tank sifted through joint communiques issued by Beijing and Moscow over decades and found they increasingly opposed the West-dominated status quo
- MERICS describes Xi as an authoritarian strongman who was formatively influenced by the fall of the Soviet Union, just as Vladimir Putin was
After the Ukraine war, China will continue to support Russia because they share the same perception of threat, a German think tank has concluded after analysing bilateral communiques of the two countries.
A report by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) analysed joint statements issued by the Chinese and Russian governments since 1993 and concluded that since 2013 they had put global issues on the centre stage and increasingly opposed the West-dominated status quo.
02:30
Xi meets with Putin ahead of Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony
In the report titled “China and Russia: united in opposition” issued last week, the authors attributed the change to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who became the state leader in 2013. They described Xi as an authoritarian strongman who was formatively influenced by the fall of the Soviet Union, just as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was.
“China and Russia have come together under Xi and their relationship looks set to continue being defined by their opposition to the US and the West,” the report said.
This statement lifted the Beijing-Moscow relationship to “a friendship without limits” and Xi said the bilateral ties had entered “a new historical period”.