Ideological cementing of alliance: Russian-Chinese summit

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's participation in the Kremlin's 80th anniversary of planet War II triumph was combined with a four-day authoritative state visit (7–10 May). Following the May 8 summit, joint statements were issued on further deepening relations and global strategical stableness and on stepping up cooperation to strengthen the authority of global law. In addition, intergovernmental agreements on common support and defence of investment have been signed, as well as over 20 cooperation agreements between ministries (including trade facilitations), media and investigation organisations.

The visit was primarily political-propagandic, with a powerfully marked ideological component. Its aim was to show the sustainability of the Russian-Chinese strategical alliance. It draws attention to the highly crucial place in the subject of closer media, propaganda and education cooperation, which aims to coordinate the information war against the West and to build a social base for an alliance that has so far been an elite of power project.

Comment

• The visit was a political demonstration of the strategical sustainability of the Russian-Chinese tandem in the face of president Donald Trump's assertive policy and his declaration to “take” Moscow distant from Beijing. The summit papers include a number of allegations against Washington and its allies both in Europe (NATO) and Asia (AUKUS, Japan), including the proliferation of atomic conflict, the threat to the safety of another atomic powers by strengthening and expanding military alliances, the demolition of global economical governance (sanctions, customs policy), the deconstruction of the arms control system, the pursuit of hegemony and neocolonial practices. China has besides confirmed one more time the "strong interior dynamics" of Russia's relation with Russia, which are "independent of 3rd parties", and clearly signalled that they were not afraid about Moscow's ongoing dialog with Washington.
• Beijing and Moscow traditionally declared common support on regional issues that set a line of conflict in their relations with Washington and its allies. Russia reiterated its support for Taiwan. China stated that it was essential to remove its "primary causes", to keep the rule of indivisibility and to take into account "reasonable interests and safety concerns" until the end of the conflict in Ukraine. This refers to Russian demands against NATO and Washington from the turn of 2021 and 2022. The Parties expressed the intention to further strengthen military and military-technical cooperation, inter alia by deepening cooperation, expanding the scale and geographical scope of joint exercises, regularly conducting joint patrols and exchanging experience.
• For the first time, so much attention has been paid to cooperation in media, educational, technological and cultural spheres. This has besides been reflected in a number of agreements signed between universities, media organisations and cultural institutions. In Russian media, there is simply a increasing presence of Chinese threads and material promoting relations between 2 countries. This aims to coordinate anti-Western transmission and build deeper support for the alliance in both societies. It can be assumed that this is served by, inter alia, a signed action plan in the field of joint movie production between the Ministry of Culture FR and the State movie Administration of the PRC and six memorandums on cooperation between Russian and Chinese media structures. Cooperation in this field is besides intended to contribute to expanding the ideological foundations of the alliance by bringing it out of the past. The story of the eternal relationship of Chinese and Russian nations has been extended by a fresh thread of blood brotherhood shed in a common conflict against Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan.
• In the ideological-vision dimension, the summit confirmed the leadership of the Chinese side. The Russian side officially announced the leader of the PRC as the main guest of the anniversary celebration. The content of signed papers is increasingly based on Chinese concepts and initiatives, including the alleged thought of a community of human destiny in the fresh era. Moscow seems to accept this situation due to the fact that it mostly agrees with Beijing's assessment, and the adoption of its communicative and terminology constitutes a tiny concession from the position of the Russians, but it is crucial for China.
• In the economical sphere, the summit did not bring breakthrough decisions. The Parties shall proceed to systematically strengthen economical cooperation, in peculiar in areas of advanced technology, e-commerce, supply of mineral and agricultural natural materials and building resilience to western (American) financial sanctions. most likely a disappointment for Moscow is the deficiency of advancement in the plan of the fresh Siberia Power 2 pipeline. A fresh agreement on common support and protection of investments was signed after many years of talks. Nevertheless, it may be doubtful whether it will increase Chinese capital engagement in Russia, which it has been complaining about for years. However, this is not due to the deficiency of regulation, but to the fact that Chinese investors are deterring mainly Western sanctions and Russian corruption and bureaucracy.