On March 17 &19 respectively, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were re-elected as the President of each country, heralding a new era with both the bright future and the thorny challenges.The two leaders sent each other with the congratulatory messages followed by talks over the phone. This is quite rare in terms of diplomatic protocol but is clear as said by Xi that currently the China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership is at the best level in history, which sets an example for building a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, cooperation and all-win results, and a community with a shared future for mankind.
Understandably, recent U.S. National Security Paper argues both China and Russia as the strategic rivals. Therefore, Beijing and Moscow aredestined to work closelyin order to preserve their overall strategic ties to higher level and to provide driving force for respective national prosperity and decency, regional stability and global peace and justice. As Russia has struggled for advancing on the path of national rejuvenation and economic recovery, Xi expressed his belief that Russia will definitely be able to keep creating new glories in national and international realms. For sure, both countries now need to each other more than before since the United States and its allies have seen Russia and China as the rising powers with the view to challenging the global rules set by the West. For example, Stephen Walt warned recently that it is China, not Russia, will be the real competitor globally to the United States, if bipolarity eventually returns.
Yet, Xi and his generation in China who were born during the 1950s have held that Russia was, is and will be certainly the global power to play the constructive role in constructing the world order. Due to this, Putin frankly said that thanks largely to Xi’s personal impetus, Russia-China relations have in recent years reached an unprecedented height and have set an example for developing equality-based and mutually beneficial cooperation between major countries. In view of the volatile milieu surrounding both Russia and China, he has firm belief in the joint efforts of both countries that will surely further consolidate and enrich the bilateral comprehensive strategic Partnership of Coordination for the world peace and justice. That is especially true to China’s “Belt & Road Initiative” in view of the security and stability of Eurasia and the world at large. In return, Xi and Putin pledged to further deepen bilateral ties in order to achievemore remarkable success in economic and social development.
It is quite difficult for realist scholars to understand the reasons why China and Russia have been cooperating so well in international affairs. Yet, among many reasons is the personal empathy between Xi and Putin as both men were born in the early 1950s when China and the Soviet Union were close allies cemented by both geopolitical consideration and ideological affinity. Equally both men have shared the similar view that the world in the 21st century should be multipolar order rather than dominated by any single hegemony. Personally, both Xi and Putin have demonstrated their courage and great sense of duty to achieve great national rejuvenation, and their countries will be conducive to keeping world peace and stability and benefit people globally. To that end, Xi and Putin have recently paid several visits to each other for strategic dialogues and consultation. This year the two leaders in person endorse the two peoplesto make joint efforts to build the Year of China-Russia Local Cooperation and Exchange into a new spotlight for their mutual relations, and then in consolidating political and strategic mutual trust and expanding all-around pragmatic cooperation.
In summary, both China and Russia are at crucial periods for national development and rejuvenation. Noting that the two countries have shown firm support for each other on questions concerning their respective core interests by linking the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union. For sure, consistency in leadership is also crucial when it comes to the Belt and Road Initiative, because infrastructure projects along the initiative involve decades of investment, construction and operation.Putin pledged that Russia will join China in making efforts to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination and benefit the two peoples. Their re-election to the new term is definitely rooted in both leaders’ visions of the initiative that will make China and Russia more influential on the global stage.