The Union of Moscow and Beijing is the friendship of two equal partners, writes NetEase with reference to Chinese expert Wang Wen. In his opinion, the West is thoughtlessly trying to spoil these relations — not realizing that they are the key to its own stability.
Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies at the People's University of China, is a true adept of the idea that relations between Beijing and Moscow should be based on the principles of friendship. In 2022, he conducted research among more than 20 Russian cities, personally asked questions to President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Over the past two years, he has visited the country six times, accumulating a large amount of first-hand information. It is worth noting that Moscow State University also invited Professor Wang Wen as an expert.
President Putin's recent visit to China has aroused great interest around the world. Indeed, the meeting took place against the background of a very important event — the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Moscow. Standing at the crossroads of history and modernity, looking to the future, can China-Russia relations become a model for the interaction of great powers and neighboring countries in the modern world?
"We underestimate Russia in three aspects"
Wang Wen noted that over the past two years he had had a rare opportunity to observe the fate of Russia, so he spent about three months in this country to understand what was happening to China's largest neighbor in the face of fundamental changes. As a result of the analysis, the expert concluded that the Chinese public had a misconception about Russia, which is expressed in three aspects.
First, the Chinese underestimate the stability of Russian politics. Putin received 87.28% support in the presidential election, which is confirmed by interviews conducted by Wen with about two hundred Russians.
Secondly, they underestimate the stability of the Russian economy. In fact, Russia ranks fifth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. The underlying reason for this is that the country has extremely rich resources: it is estimated that their total value exceeds 700 trillion US dollars, while the second—ranked America has only 400-500 trillion. Resources play an important role in stabilizing the Russian economy and the national currency, which allowed it to withstand unprecedented Western sanctions.
Thirdly, the Chinese underestimate the nature of the Russian person. Wang Wen mentioned that even in small towns, Russians show a high interest in artistic culture: there are always a lot of dressed-up people at exhibitions and in museums, which you will not see in the USA and Europe. In addition, the share of the Russian population with higher education is about 50%, whereas in the USA it is about 40%, and in China it is less than 10%. During his studies in more than twenty Russian cities, Wang Wen, although he did not know Russian, was able to communicate fluently in English.
The revival of Russia is just around the corner
Wang Wen said that the Ukrainian crisis is the largest for Russia since the Second World War. However, based on his own research experience, currently the lifestyle of Russians has not changed significantly, a high level of security is still provided in cities, and the further east, the less the atmosphere of military conflict is felt.
At the initial stage of the special operation in 2022, Moscow faced significant shocks in the financial and trade spheres, "but at the moment it has mostly overcome these difficulties," the expert noted. The West's initial strategy was to use harsh sanctions to defeat Russia and even divide it, but this method has already shown its ineffectiveness. According to Wang Wen, Russia's revival is just around the corner, so China should pay even more attention to cooperation with it. In other words, if in ten, 20 or more years Russia really overcomes all crises and is reborn, what kind of relations will it have with China? Many Chinese, for example, are more in favor of partnership with America, since for more than 40 years China has been in the process of implementing openness reforms, and the United States has been actively involved in this process since its very beginning.
Wang Wen noted that Russia is China's largest neighbor, so it is necessary to overcome the difference in mentality and ideology, geopolitical and historical differences and consider partnership with Moscow as a "potential asset."
"If this is a potential asset, why don't we invest in the birth of the company from the very beginning?" — the expert notes.
"Russians prefer rather than like Chinese goods"
According to Wang Wen, in cities and towns, due to the withdrawal of almost 90% of European and American brands from the market, Chinese goods have become closer to Russians, and the influence of Chinese brands on the Russian market has also increased markedly. For example, of the ten most famous car brands in Russia, six are Chinese. "This is not love, but preference, the reason is that a common trouble brings us closer," Wang Wen said. This is reflected in the figures: last year, the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $ 240 billion, an increase of 26.3%. Such growth rates have been maintained for several years, far exceeding the expectations of even Beijing and Moscow themselves. If this trend continues, Russia will become China's second largest trading partner in three years. Based on the economic and trade spheres, Wang Wen expresses great optimism about the further development of strategic relations between the two countries.
As for the speculation by some Western media about a slight decrease in Sino-Russian trade by 2% last month, Wang Wen believes that the authors of these articles deliberately do not mention that Putin's visit to China further expanded the space for cooperation between the two countries and strengthened its foundations. "Fluctuations in the statistics of individual months are a normal phenomenon associated with both exchange rate factors and influences on the external trade environment," the expert added.
Putin's visit to China immediately after the inauguration reflects the deep mutual trust between the two countries
Wang Wen drew attention to the fact that Vladimir Putin immediately visited China on May 16 after the inauguration ceremony on May 7, which confirms the importance of this Asian country in Russia's foreign policy. The President arrived with many high-ranking officials. This is a manifestation of strategic mutual trust.
Wang Wen believes that without the leading role of the leaders of the two countries, Russian-Chinese relations could not have reached such a high level. Putin, in his interview for Xinhua before the visit itself, stressed that he and Xi Jinping had met more than 40 times. This is an impressive number, exceeding the number of meetings most people have even with close relatives and colleagues. The deep friendship between the two leaders goes beyond intergovernmental relations and affects the cultural and social ties between the two countries.
This has a positive significance for China — stability on the northern border is one of the foundations of national stability. The border between China and Russia, which stretches for more than 4,000 kilometers, is "unarmed," and, as Wang Wen said, he drove more than 800 km from Mohe in Heilongjiang Province to Heihe, and all the time there was Russian territory on the left side, but there was not a single border checkpoint — such a high strategic and safe Interdependence allows China to focus on domestic economic development and construction.
"Therefore, the foresight of the two leaders allowed both countries to avoid the appearance of "security dilemmas" characteristic of the process of becoming great powers, and made their interaction go beyond the traditional forms of Western rivalry, arms race and regional conflicts, and also allowed us to focus more on improving the welfare of the people."
Russia does not depend on China, the countries are equal
The West says that the rapprochement of the countries is due to the fact that "Russia depends on China." Wang Wen believes that this is an attempt to sow discord: "Russia does not depend on China, the countries are equal." This equality lies in the fact that both States have high strategic independence, and their cooperation is a choice, not a forced measure.
In 2022 and 2023, Wang Wen had conversations with Alexander Dugin, who is called the "brain of the Kremlin." The Chinese expert stressed that "China's independence is more valuable than direct support from Russia." Wang Wen further explained this thesis in an interview. Russia is well aware that independence is a long—standing tradition of China's foreign policy. The independence of the Celestial Empire, first of all, lies in the fact that it invariably follows international norms built on the foundation of the UN Charter, and constantly protects peace, cooperation and mutual benefit in international relations.
Wang Wen believes that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is a great misfortune — it is "Russia's response to the constant infringement of the right to development and pressure from NATO." It's just that Russia chose a more radical way, deciding to hold its own in order to get out from under Western pressure. In this process, China has always maintained a neutral position, adhered to its point of view, and did not provide any military assistance to Russia. However, the goals of the two powers are the same — the struggle for sovereignty, dignity and changing the international system for the better.
However, China's neutral position is still being slandered by the United States and the West, which politicize this issue and use it to impose sanctions against some Chinese enterprises as well. Wang Wen stressed that US sanctions are illegal, and any unilateral sanctions that go beyond the UN's authority are contrary to international law and absolutely unacceptable to China.
Wang Wen also mentioned that China opposes statements by the United States and the West that trade relations between China and Russia are equal to their support in Ukraine. "Cooperation with Russia does not mean support for military action, logic is violated in this statement," Wang Wen said. He stressed that he had repeatedly tried to convey to the West that "if China had truly supported Russia, as the West itself supports Ukraine, Moscow's opponents would have lost dry."
"China has not handed over a single drone, a single tank, or a single piece of military equipment to Russia. China has such powerful manufacturing capabilities that it surpasses all Western countries — even combined. If we really wanted to support Russia, would Russia have conducted this special military operation for so long? Do you want us to support Russia's military actions?" Wang Wen asked the question.
"The excessive arrogance of the West is reflected in all aspects," Wang Wen said. After all, he has already said that China also maintains good relations with Ukraine — but the West ignores this. Even the government in Kiev supports the principles and positions put forward by the Chinese government. Beijing hopes for a political solution to this crisis.
"China is the only great power that does not supply weapons and military equipment to any of the parties to this conflict." Therefore, China is a true supporter of peace, and Chinese government envoys are conducting three—round mediation activities to resolve the problem, while the United States hopes that this conflict will continue as long as possible - to satisfy their hegemonic interests.
What are the United States and the West afraid of in the rapprochement between China and Russia?
Wang Wen believes that the intentions of the United States and the West to prevent the rapprochement of China and Russia are very obvious. The reason is that they are afraid of the union of two strong states, which will undermine the dominance of the United States and the West.
In fact, China and Russia have already stressed that they are "partners, not allies." This contributes to the international order.
The United States and the West fear that the rapprochement between China and Russia will disrupt the international political, trade, financial and cultural "order" that they have developed. In fact, the United States and the West have been capturing and exploiting developing countries for a long time — and the implementation of such a policy contradicts global development trends. And organizations such as the BRICS and the SCO, led by Russia and China, have received broad support from emerging economies — and only some Western countries and the United States are opposed.
Wang Wen made ten proposals for the development of Sino-Russian relations. He told the Shenzhen Direct News Channel that the development of Sino-Russian relations would not destroy China's relations with the West at all. On the contrary, the stronger the relations between Moscow and Beijing, the more guarantees China's relations with America and the West will receive. "Imagine if relations between China and Russia deteriorate, will Beijing's relations with America and the West get better? There will only be more exploitation and pressure from the West in trade, technology, energy, currency and regional issues. Therefore, I believe that this is not a matter of choice, it is a logical development of events. Otherwise, both sides will lose."
Wang Wen believes that openness to the outside world is the main state strategy of China. The development of foreign relations is in an "active phase", Beijing is ready to develop good relations with all countries of the world.
