Russia and China relations

Do you think the Russians are playing double game with India?


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W.G.Ewald

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The problem is, Russia has stopped to care for herself now. After Soviet fall, the society just fell apart. Rather than remaking all that, they became worse, depended on an oil economy rather than technology and stopped the entire society with zero family life. 2 generations of citizens not marrying and having kids has a big impact if you consider that Russia had a very callous approach towards life in the past revolutions, Soviet assaults and wars.
There is truth in what you say, but Russia people's suffering in the 30's and 40's must have been unimaginable.
 

charlyondfi

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Why should Russia completely trust China when Chinese-USA/West bloc is what brought down the Soviet Union??
Dear LF: as far as I can recall, there has been serious dispute between Soviet and China before this "China-USA/West bloc", which even puzzles all western political & intelligence at that time - inducating these so-called think-tanks are NOT that smart nor sensitive to un-seen symptoms. As for the real cause: it's covering from ideology ("communism will win the human great battle" or not, Mao is a faithful pupil to this) to geopolitical factors (exactly Soviet stand at 1962 Indonesia-China war). My point: I tend to say Russia won't use this "China-USA/West block" as a "charge" to China's responsibility. No prompt link for my argument, just I so rarely heard Russina complains it's China "co-"bring their "glorious" Soviet down,
 

Ray

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As far as I understand, China is playing a more serious and interactive role with Russia's Far East.

And if Russia does not wake up, she will go into a coma and never recover!
 

charlyondfi

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The problem is, Russia has stopped to care for herself now. After Soviet fall, the society just fell apart. Rather than remaking all that, they became worse, depended on an oil economy rather than technology and stopped the entire society with zero family life. 2 generations of citizens not marrying and having kids has a big impact if you consider that Russia had a very callous approach towards life in the past revolutions, Soviet assaults and wars.
Chinese are doing just the opposite of what Russia is doing; and that's what Russia's supposed to do. It will be considered a good friend for sure, but to regain that power and capability, it will have to rebuilt its society.
Dear Tshering: I am yet entitled to start a thread, but here is a topic I am really interested to raise, and also an important one,, IMHO...
-- the reason I make use of reply to your post: you are one of who confirm "Russia has been, and STILL IS, in decline..."

The topic/question: how good Putin has been doing his job, at a both nominal and real leader of Russia

Reason is I notice very different symptoms in DFI: quite a few people regard he is a leader of strong charisma and exactly what Russia need. However, there are also many admit, like you, that Russia YET has gained any "restore to glory", let alone on any right track. Obviously these two symptoms are contracdictary. I simply want to highlight, and seek everyone's thought, perhaps starting from you.

-- I myself have couple Russian friends, many of whom are 200% adorer of Putin. They have tried to provide many justifications: how huge is Russia to govern effectively, how many and how deep the problems rooting back to Soviet era, and how long lead time it might need. Nevertheless, we only look at the result Putin had already got 10 years till yet (2000~) How exactly we should assess his performance. Moreover, give his past 10 years performance, what we are expecting for next 10 years

---- One good example is about this abortion phynomenon: Putin actually proposed a birth-encouraging act, along with many anti-abortion measures, even back to 2002, which got so much support NOT only from Orthodox Catholic Church but also his young admirers (could be hundreds of such groups, if not thousands). In the end, the whole act turns into a benefit/subsidy distribution farce with very little effect if any

I go too far with my own observation & argement. Back to my point: how do we measure Putin's performance? given Russia's current trend of power. And, how do we expect him in next 10 years?I look forward to hear everyone's comments & thanks.
 
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cir

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China, Russia sign 27 contacts worth 15 billion USD

China, Russia sign 27 contacts worth 15 billion USD - Xinhua | English.news.cn

English.news.cn 2012-04-28 15:35:27

"¢ China and Russia have signed 27 trade contracts worth 15 billion U.S. dollars.
"¢ Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang attended the signing ceremony of the contracts.
"¢ Bilateral trade volume reached 79.25 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, up 42.7 percent year-on-year.


MOSCOW, April 28 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia have signed 27 trade contracts worth 15 billion U.S. dollars, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said here on Saturday.

Li attended the signing ceremony of the contracts before a meeting on China-Russia trade and investment.

Addressing the meeting, Li proposed that both China and Russia endeavor together to further promote their trade and economic cooperation.

The two countries could expand their cooperation in various fields, including finance, direct investment, energy, mechanical and electronic products, he said.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov also attended the meeting.

China is the top trade partner of Russia. Bilateral trade volume reached 79.25 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, up 42.7 percent year-on-year.



 

cir

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China-Russia ties in energy set to expand

Updated: 2012-04-28 10:41

By Zhou Yan (China Daily)



Two workers monitor the China-Russia oil pipeline in Daqing, Heilongjiang province. The pipeline, which went into operation in January last year, can transport about 15 million tons of oil from Russia to China a year. [Photo/Xinhua]


Sino-Russian cooperation in the energy sector will expand beyond the traditional oil and gas arena as economic ties between the two countries continue to grow closer, industry experts said.

Russia sold 2.31 million tons of crude oil to China in March, a year-on-year increase of 47.8 percent. Russia became China's third-biggest source of crude oil after the country slashed crude oil purchases from Iran by more than 50 percent year-on-year.

Russia exported a total of 7.17 million tons of crude oil worth $2.06 billion to China in the first three months of this year, an 81.4-percent increase from the same period last year.

"Growth of such imports from Russia will continue, as the two countries, which represent the world's major oil consumer (China) and supplier (Russia), need each other to maintain economic momentum," said Song Kui, a senior energy researcher at the Northeast Asia Research Institute at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

The oil and gas sectors make up more than 20 percent of Russia's GDP, while China, the world's second-largest economy and oil consumer, depends heavily on imports of foreign oil - more than 55 percent of oil consumption - to support its economic growth.

Energy cooperation between the two countries has been improving at a stable pace measured by any means from trade volume to the number of participating sectors, said Han Wenke, director of the Energy Research Center at the National Development and Reform Commission.

Energy ties spearhead the two countries' strategic cooperation, which will have even brighter prospects as bilateral trade grows, Han said.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang began his official visit to Russia on Thursday and will stay until Monday, making it the first official visit by a top Chinese leader to the country since Russia's March presidential election.

The two countries have set a target to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion by the end of 2015 and to $200 billion in 2020. That's compared with $79.3 billion in trade last year.

The first oil pipeline connecting Russia's Siberia region to northeastern China's Daqing started operation on Jan 1 last year. The pipeline addresses the two countries' aim to lower delivery costs and provide more efficient means to deliver oil.

The pipeline is expected to annually export about 15 million tons of oil from Russia into China for 20 years.

Even though a pricing dispute arose last year, an agreement was reached early this year.

Negotiations between China and Russia about two more gas pipelines have also stalled due to price issues.

The disputes are commercial, as companies involved in the energy projects have to take profitability into consideration, Song said.

But he added that the conflicts have eased after Russia achieved membership of the World Trade Organization in December by providing the companies involved with a fairer and more transparent business environment.

In addition, apart from traditional oil and gas resources, China and Russia still have plenty of room to cooperate in sectors such as renewable energy and unconventional gas, which Russia has yet to vigorously tap into, Han said.

"We can expect broader and deeper cooperation between the two large economies," Han said.

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China-Russia ties in energy set to expand|Economy|chinadaily.com.cn
 

cir

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Russia to build two more nuclear reactors in China

Russia to build two more nuclear reactors in China - The Times of India

PTI | Apr 28, 2012, 02.38PM IST

BEIJING: Russia and China have firmed up their nuclear cooperation, with Moscow set to build two more high-power reactors in this country's Tianwan atomic plant.

Russia had earlier helped China build two reactors in the Tianwan nuclear plant in Jiangsu province, which went into operation in 2007, Sergey Sergeevich Razov, Moscow's envoy here, said.

The two reactors, with combined capacity of 2,000 mw, are using Russia's VVER 1000 nuclear model.

Russia is going to build two more reactors in Tianwan once China lifts its suspension of new atomic power plants imposed after the nuclear disaster in Japan last year, state- run 'China Daily' reported today.

The two countries have been in discussion for a series of potential cooperative projects.

"We've already started preparation for continuous cooperation in the Tianwan Nuclear Station and hopefully, will start the work in the second half of this year," Razov was quoted as saying.

According to the National Energy Administration, China has 15 nuclear reactors in operation and 26 more under construction.

China completed a 25-mw experimental fast reactor in 2009, a fourth-generation model that represents the country's latest nuclear technology.

The design was based on Russia's technical specifications and the project was constructed by Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corp, Russia's national nuclear energy developer.

After the completion of the experimental project, China invited Russia to build the first 800-mw commercial fast reactor.

Meanwhile, the TENEX, Russia's equipment and technology export body, is working with a Chinese partner on nuclear fuel recycling. The company is providing technology and equipment for a project in China that enriches uranium through gas centrifugation.

"China and Russia have great potential for cooperation in the nuclear waste sector, because Russia is very advanced in this field," Xiao Xinjian, an industry expert with the Energy Research Institute affiliated with China's National Development and Reform Commission, said.

Russia has proposed to China that they jointly exploit three uranium deposits on Russian territory Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Rosatom, during a visit to Beijing in 2010, had said.

Another field for possible cooperation would be offshore nuclear power plants.

China is interested in a floating nuclear plant that could be used to power offshore oil and gas facilities, industry experts said.
 

cir

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China's NFC Agrees to Invest in Russian Lawmaker's Zinc Project

By Ilya Khrennikov

Apr 28, 2012 5:44 PM GMT+0800

China Nonferrous Metal Industry's Foreign Engineering and Construction Co. agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in Russian MBC Corp.'s Ozernoye zinc project in eastern Siberia, MBC said in a statement.

The Chinese company, also known as NFC, signed a framework agreement today at a Russia-China forum in Moscow in the presence of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, according to the statement.

NFC preliminarily agreed to organize financing for the project, build a processing plant and take on the metal produced, the statement showed. MBC is controlled by Russian lawmaker and owner of the IFC Metropol brokerage Mikhail Slipenchuk.

China's NFC Agrees to Invest in Russian Lawmaker's Zinc Project - Bloomberg
 

cir

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Russia and China create $4 billion investment fund

Published: 28 April, 2012, 17:48

Russia and China have announced the setting up of a $4 billion investment fund aimed to boost joint trade and cooperation.

-The agreement was in China in the presence of Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during the Russia-China Trade-Investment Forum.

"The fund will be launched in June. We will be making our first investments in the next three months," Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund told RT. "We'll focus on projects with good returns in such sectors as agricultures, machinery and logistics".

Russian Direct Investment Fund will contribute $1 bln to the joint fund and $1 bln will come from China Investment Corporation (CIC). The other $2 billion is expected to come from other investors in the next two years, according to Mr Dmitriev.

"There is already quite a bit of interest from other investors because CIC is one of the leading investors in the world. So the fund gets a lot of international attention," he explained.

"Many investors believe that Russian and Chinese cooperation will grow, there will be many business opportunities and investment if that makes sense."

The fund would invest in private businesses and non-public companies across China and Russia, not focusing only on cross-border transactions. However, about 30% will be invested in Chinese companies, while at least 70% of the investment would go to Russian companies.

Russia and China create $4 billion investment fund — RT
 

cir

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China makes new proposal on Russia gas deal

Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:23pm GMT

* China says offering "new model" for gas dealings
* Proposal made by heir apparent to Chinese premier
* Price dispute has stymied deal between producer, consumer

By Melissa Akin and Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, April 28 (Reuters) - Chinese energy officials
signalled on Saturday they were keen to pursue a major gas deal
with Russia despite a proliferation of alternative supplies, and
said they had made a new proposal to overcome a price deadlock.
Talks between China, the world's fastest growing energy
consumer, and Russia, the world's largest conventional gas
producer, fell apart late last year when China, frustrated by
years of stalemate over price, increased its supplies from rival
producer Turkmenistan.
A senior energy official visiting Moscow as part of a
delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is on
track to succeed Premier Wen Jiabao, told reporters China had
proposed a new model for cooperation on gas during the visit.
"Now all that remains is the question of prices," said Liu
Tienan, the head of China's National Energy Administration.
He said Li had presented "a completely new model of
development of cooperation ... in the natural gas sphere, and
received a positive assessment from the Russian side."
"We are interested in the companies of our two countries
beginning discussions and consultations on this issue under the
new model of cooperation."
Earlier in the day, the chairman of China National Petroleum
Corp. (CNPC), Jiang Jiemin, reiterated to an economic
conference that most of the key points of a gas deal were
agreed.
"We have signed a buy-sell agreement with Gazprom," Jiang
said, singling out the deal among successful ventures including
a loans-for-oil deal, under which China receives 300,000 barrels
per day via a dedicated pipeline, and joint oil exploration in
Siberia.
Under the terms of the gas deal, which was nearly finalized
last year, Russia would sell up to 68 billion cubic meters of
pipeline gas per year to China, more gas than it ships to any
single European customer.
The two countries had agreed on everything but price and
appeared on the brink of a final agreement a year ago when
Chinese President Hu Jintao was preparing to come to Russia for
an annual investor showcase in St. Petersburg.
But Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom refused
to accommodate Chinese price demands, arguing it could sell the
same gas to Europe for a higher profit than the Chinese offer
had implied.


Frustrated by the long-running standoff, China opted to buy
extra gas from the former Soviet state of Turkmenistan, and
backed up its choice with a decision to build a pipeline to
accommodate more Central Asian gas.
A Gazprom source said before the Chinese visit that talks
had not progressed, nor had the company reduced its asking price
for pipeline gas deliveries to China.
Analysts have said China could not afford to pay Russia's
asking price without raising domestic rates and eroding its
competitive advantage in manufacturing.
"As always in the course of big work there are issues which
require additional attention, but we have learned to do it the
way close friends do," President-elect Vladimir Putin said on
Friday after Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller met Jiang.
"We are looking for compromises and are finding them," Putin
said at a meeting with Li, also attended by Russia's top energy
official, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister
Sergei Shmatko.
Russia's government - increasingly wary of Gazprom's
dependence on pipelines which bind it to specific customers, and
particularly of increasingly competitive European markets - has
meanwhile ordered Gazprom to build new coastal plants to liquefy
gas for delivery by tanker.
But Russia's nascent LNG strategy may not yield substantial
sales to China, because Russia's sources of gas, except the
fields off the Pacific island of Sakhalin, are far from the
potential sites of coastal LNG plants, far from Asian markets,
or both, which could make them too costly to compete.
China is pursuing unconventional gas production at home and
is confronted with a widening array of potential import options,
from Central Asian pipe gas to the shale fields of the United
States, whose gas could be liquefied for export.

UPDATE 1-China makes new proposal on Russia gas deal | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters
 

cir

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Russia's Basic Element inks $1 bln cooperation deal with China's Norinco

MOSCOW, April 29 | Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:26am EDT

MOSCOW, April 29 (Reuters) - Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element said on Sunday it had agreed a $1 billion cooperation deal with China's state-owned North Industries Corporation (Norinco) that will include construction of a rolling mill in Russia for metal production.

The deal will also allow the world's largest aluminium producer Rusal, which is majority owned by Basic Element's subsidiary En+Group, to expand its aluminium exports to China by selling to North United Aluminium, a joint venture between Rusal and Norinco, Basic Element said in a statement.

Rusal will also consider an option to buy Norinco-made anode production equipment for its Taishet aluminium smelter which is under construction in East Siberia, the statement said.

The announcement coincides with a visit to Russia by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier early next year.

"Basic Element (BasEl) and Norinco plan to boost the value of their ... cooperation to over $1 billion," the statement said. The rolling mill will be built on the premises of En+Group's metal plant at Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, it said.

"This agreement represents another step forward in the development of our economic relations with China, one of the most strategically important markets for Russia," Deripaska was quoted as saying in the statement.

Rusal is the world's largest aluminium maker, producing about 4 million tonnes of aluminium and 8 million tons of alumina last year. (Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Russia's Basic Element inks $1 bln cooperation deal with China's Norinco | Reuters
 

opkeyen

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China-Russia Airplane Venture Planned

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/china-russia-airplane-venture-planned/459644.html
United Aircraft Corporation and Chinese Commercial Aircraft Corporation plan to start a joint venture to develop long-haul aircraft, Vedomosti reported Thursday. United Aircraft Corporation will provide the knowledge base and design expertise for the project, while China will supply the financing and manufacturing facilities.

The companies are expected to sign the agreement for the joint venture next week during President Vladimir Putin's visit to China, Yury Slyusar, deputy industry and trade minister, told Vedomosti.

The new aircraft, currently code named "2020," will be based on the Ilyushin II-96, a four-engine airliner designed in the Soviet Union. The cost of the project has not be disclosed, but Slyusar estimated it to be about $7 billion to 12 billion with a seven-year deadline.

Planes will be produced in China, but Russia is expected to benefit from the funds its partner will inject into local research, Sergei Sanakoyev, secretary of the Russian-Chinese Center of Trade and Economic Cooperation, told Vedomosti.
 

opkeyen

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Re: China-Russia Airplane Venture Planned

China large aircraft engines is a difficulty, Western technology cooperation can be limited, and the Russian cooperation is a good choice, at the same time, China will continue to consider and Israel, Ukraine, Ukraine has a strong intention of cooperation

China Russia cooperation is prepared and Airbus, Boeing competition, both countries were still not completely independent ability can establish such competition relations



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amoy

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Russia turns east to embrace looming China

Russia/China: $200 billion turnover - Putin : Voice of Russia
The trade turnover between Russia and China could exceed $200 billion in less than 8 years, earlier than was previously scheduled according to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, in an article published in the Chinese newspaper "The People's Daily."

"In 2011 the trade turnover between Russia and China reached a record high: $83.5 billion. Today, in the medium term, that is, by 2015, to reach the 100 billion mark of $100 billion. Moreover, the dynamics of today show that this level can be overcome ahead of schedule," said President Putin.

To achieve this goal it will be necessary to optimize the structure and improve the quality of bilateral trade, said the head of state.

Russia turns east to embrace looming China | Reuters
* Putin to make first trip to China since return to presidency

* Russia turning attention eastward

* Moscow boosting presence in sparsely populated Far East

By Thomas Grove

MOSCOW, June 5 (Reuters) - When Russia opens a "billion-dollar bridge" on its Pacific coast this summer, Vladimir Putin can expect an enthusiastic audience among the 5,000 islanders whom it will connect to the mainland, at an eye-popping cost per head.

But the president will be looking, too, for attention from a few miles further off, in China, whose rise as a trading and diplomatic partner but also as a potential rival for control of thinly populated Siberia's resources has brought a new focus in Moscow on both business and military investment in the far east.

Putin, who meets Chinese leaders in Beijing on Tuesday as he settles back into his role in the Kremlin, has poured money into the Vladivostok area since it was chosen five years ago to host this September's Asia-Pacific APEC summit.

The bridge, which with a central span of 1.l km (1,200 yards) can claim to be the longest of its type in the world, is a sweeping statement of intent. It connects Russia's main Pacific port to Russky Island, where just 20 years ago, as Soviet Communism collapsed, soldiers starved to death for want of rations being despatched to this remotest of outposts.

Today, though some question the efficacy of bureaucrats pouring taxpayers' roubles into the region, it shows a will in the Kremlin to engage in the east, where Putin must balance the opportunities and risks presented by the rapid growth of China.

"If Peter the Great were alive today he would relocate the capital to Vladivostok not St Petersburg," said Dmitry Trenin of the think-tank Carnegie Moscow Center, referring to the 18th-century tsar's drive to push Russians into the heart of Europe.

"The Pacific is the equivalent of the Baltic Sea in the 18th century. It's where the action is," Trenin said. "But Russia needs to divert far more attention to the Far East than it has been devoting recently ... It will remain a challenge."

TRADE, RIVALRY

Newly re-installed as president after four years as prime minister to his protege Dmitry Medvedev, Putin met EU officials in St Petersburg on Monday before embarking on a state visit to China. He will meet President Hu Jintao and attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which also includes former Soviet states in central Asia.

Among the talks between Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, and China, the largest consumer of energy, will be a natural gas deal which Moscow hopes to finalise after years of negotiation. Also on the table is a multi-billion dollar joint venture to build a long-haul aircraft, Russian media have said, and a state-run fund to invest in Russian and Chinese projects.

Russian trade with China has risen at least 40 percent year on year for the last two years and Russian officials say that a target to have $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015 is likely to be reached ahead of time.

China's widening sphere of economic influence is already being felt on a local level in Russia, especially in areas close to the frontier, far from Moscow, where Chinese-made goods stock the shelves at local grocery stores and Russians make shopping trips to China for clothes and consumer goods.

The worry in Moscow, which forged an imperial dominion over sparsely populated Siberia in the 19th century, is that China's influence is now challenging Russian hegemony in its own lands.

"(Russia has) a neighbour that is becoming more and more powerful economically and its eastern territory is becoming increasingly focused on that powerhouse next door," said Trenin.

"Literally, they are becoming an appendage to China's growing industry."

In an attempt to parry China's growing influence, Moscow has tried to boost its political presence in the region. The new government formed last month has for the first time a Minister for Far East Development.

A state company is also being created with the purpose of exploiting the resources of Russia's Far East. But some analysts say that the bureaucratic, state-led approach to Russian-Chinese relations may indicate lack of a more nuanced plan.

"Putin understands the importance of dealing with China - hence the formation of the new ministry," said Pavel Baev, an analyst at the Peace Research Institute Oslo.

"But he has no clue about how to deal with it."

In an attempt to beef up Russia's presence on its Chinese border, where a territorial dispute killed nearly 60 as recently as 1969, Moscow has reinforced the dwindling local population with migrants from across the former Soviet Union, who are given money and jobs in return for agreeing to settle in the remote areas.

The government programme has already transported 400 Russian-speaking families from other countries to the Far East.

Other programmes, some of them more colourful than of obvious strategic significance, are aimed at strengthening Russia's borders. The next school year will include the training of the region's first corps of Cossacks, according to local media - a reference to the informal frontier force used by the tsars to repel enemies and whose name has been revived amid a general nostalgia for the imperial past under Putin's 12-year dominance.

SHARED POSITIONS, MUTUAL SUSPICIONS

Both President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao are expected to step down at the end of this year, but Putin has succeeded in cultivating a relationship with Vice Premier Li Keqiang, Wen's likely successor. The two had a chance to talk earlier this year when Li quietly visited Moscow while the premier was on a much-publicised trip through Europe.

One of the central themes of the talks on Tuesday will be the violence in Syria and the future of President Bashar al-Assad. Russia and China - both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - have stymied efforts by Western powers to condemn or call for the removal of the Syrian leader in formal resolutions.

The Security Council voting reveals an often repeated pattern in which China follows Russia's more vocal lead on issues from Syria to Iran, allowing Russia to take the lead shielding China from international scrutiny.

"China and Russia have an informal agreement over how to vote in UN security council. China basically follows the Russian vote when it comes to issues where china is not vitally interested," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs.

"But China will expect Russia to take its side when Beijing wants it," he said, especially on issues in East Asia.

Russian officials emphasise that their positions on Syria reflect shared interests in maintaining centres of power outside of Washington and Brussels as well as a policy of non-interventionism, code for limiting Western influence in regions where either of the two countries have interests. Russia and China have voiced opposition to new sanctions against Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to meet the leaders in Beijing, over its nuclear programme.

Critics see Putin and the Chinese leadership interested mainly in discouraging demands for democracy.

While the two countries agree on a common front to defend common interests globally, their relationship is thornier closer to home.

"Russia can talk about a strategic partnership with China but they will never be actual allies because China is too much of a potential threat to Russia," a Western diplomat said. "Russia cannot avoid being concerned about China."

Suggesting Russia's fears over China, Moscow has been bolstering its military presence in the Far East and around China with plans to move the first of its newest class of submarines to the Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok, a force it hopes to turn around from the long rot that, a couple of decades ago, saw forgotten men dying of malnutrition at Russky Island.
(Additional reporting by Christopher Buckley in Beijing; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
 

amoy

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Re: Russia turns east to embrace looming China

BBC News - Energy to dominate Russia President Putin's China visit

Mr Putin says he wants to increase trade between Russian and China to $200bn by 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin is beginning a three-day visit to China, with energy and foreign policy expected to dominate the agenda.

Mr Putin said ahead of the trip that he wanted to further boost booming bilateral trade, which reached $84bn (£55bn) last year.

The Syrian crisis is also expected to be discussed during the talks.

Russia and China have resisted Western pressure to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power amid ongoing unrest.

China's envoy to the UN, Li Baodong, has described Syria as one of the most pressing issues on the agenda of the Security Council.

Beijing currently holds the council's rotating presidency, and Mr Li urged all parties to immediately implement the peace plan of UN envoy Kofi Annan.

Syria's rebel Free Syrian Army said on Monday it was no longer committed to the nominal ceasefire.

Spokesman Sami al-Kurdi told Reuters news agency the FSA had begun attacking soldiers to "defend our people".

Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

Syria is perhaps the most pressing issue to discuss.

Both countries have blocked two United Nations resolutions criticising the government in Damascus.

But with the situation in Syria deteriorating, they are once again coming under pressure from other world leaders to help stop the conflict.

China and Russia favour a peace plan put forward by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. But that now looks to be unravelling.

Up until now, these two countries have acted in unison on this issue. That might be tested if the violence in Syria continues.

Gas deal

Mr Putin will hold extensive talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao later on Tuesday.

The Russian leader is taking to Beijing six cabinet ministers, the head of gas giant Gazprom and other energy companies.

Some 17 major business and trade deals between Russia and China are expected to be signed in Beijing, Mr Putin's aides say.

But it remains unclear whether this will include a long-awaited gas agreement that would allow Moscow to supply some 70bn cubic metres of gas to its neighbour.

Latest reports suggest that pricing disagreements remain between Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, and China, the largest consumer of energy.

On the eve of the visit, Mr Putin told China's state media that he wanted to increase bilateral trade to $100bn in 2015 and $200bn by 2020.

He said the target could be achieved "ahead of schedule".

On Wednesday, Mr Putin will meet Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, who is tipped to be the next premier, and Xi Jinping, who is expected to become next president after a stage-managed leadership change later this year.

While in China, Mr Putin will also attend a regional security summit on Thursday.
 

Ray

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Re: Russia turns east to embrace looming China

Russia is no friend of China.

In fact, Russia is very worried about Chinese influence that is growing in East Russia.
 

Kunal Biswas

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Russia China relations

Russia's Putin says to push military ties with China

BEIJING (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he will boost military cooperation with China, including holding more joint exercises, after the United States announced plans to shift most of its warships to the Asia-Pacific by 2020.

Putin referred to recent Sino-Russian joint navy exercises in the Yellow Sea as an example of military cooperation which, he said, would go on.

"We will continue cooperation also between our military," he told Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where he is attending a security summit and meeting his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao.

"Recently joint navy exercises were held in the Yellow Sea, and they were the first of such exercises. We have agreed with Chairman Hu that we will continue such cooperation," Putin said.

Chinese and Russian naval forces held six days of exercises in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast in April, with drills including anti-submarine operations and the rescue of hijacked vessels.

China deployed 16 ships and two submarines, while Russia sent four warships from its Pacific fleet, according to Chinese state media.

"We assign an important role to the joint initiative on strengthening security in the Asia-Pacific region and in this context we will maintain the relationship between our militaries," Putin said in an earlier statement.

"We favor the formation of an open and equal-minded security and cooperation architecture in the region, based on the principles of international law," he said.

China and Russia have forged close economic and diplomatic ties following years of hostility and suspicion during a large part of the Cold War, and both have looked askance at U.S. military involvement in what they view as their backyards.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday the United States would reposition its naval fleet so that 60 percent of its battleships would be in the Asia-Pacific by the end of the decade, up from about 50 percent now.

China has long been wary of U.S. intentions, with hawkish voices in the People's Liberation Army saying that the United States was bent on encircling China and crippling its rise.

China's fast-modernizing navy has stirred worries among neighbors, including in Southeast Asia, where several countries are in dispute with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Under the U.S. plans, Panetta announced the Navy would maintain six aircraft carriers assigned to the Pacific. Six of its 11 carriers are now assigned to the Pacific, but that will fall to five when the USS Enterprise is decommissioned soon.

The number will return to six when a new carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is completed in 2015.

The U.S. Navy had a fleet of 282 ships as of March. That is expected to slip to about 276 over the next two years before beginning to rise toward the goal of a 300-ship fleet, according to a 30-year Navy projection released in March.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Putin says to push military ties with China - Yahoo! News
 

Kunal Biswas

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re: Russia China relations

Russian-Chinese military relations at a low point

MOSCOW. (Nikita Petrov for RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent visit to China has encouraged economic, cultural and other ties. The parties also signed a whole package of documents, including a $1.5 billion deal on Russia's contribution to China's nuclear power generation.

The only issue the journalists on Medvedev's team overlooked was military technical cooperation - an area of relations that has been gathering moss for quite a while.

The bilateral commission on military technical cooperation has not met for two years, and Russia's defense minister has repeatedly postponed his visit to Beijing. Military experts say that Russian companies are not working on a single major contract for China, supplying only spare parts and components, including for the assembly of Mi-8 Hip and Mi-17 Hip H transport helicopters.

Not long ago, Russian arms and equipment supplies to China made up 40% of Russia's military exports, and earned the country between $1.8 billion and $2.5 billion a year. According to independent sources, Russian military deliveries to China over the past 15 years, mostly of aircraft, naval and air defense equipment, exceeded $25 billion.

The Chinese Air Force currently has over 280 Russian Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 Flanker fighters.

Several years ago, Beijing bought a license to assemble 200 Su-27SK fighters at the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. But China suspended the contract after producing just 105 aircraft. Analysts say the Chinese have learned to build the planes without Russian assistance, and therefore no longer need the Russian-made components, even though China's JF-17 Thunder fighters need the RD-93 engines produced at the Moscow-based Chernyshev machine-building plant.

The aircraft were delivered to China together with air-to-surface (X-35), anti-ship (X-31A) and anti-radar (X-31P) missiles.

China also bought a large batch of Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-171 helicopters and engines for them. Russia has built four Sovremenny class destroyers for the Chinese Navy and armed them with supersonic Moskit anti-ship missiles (SS-N-22 Sunburn).

China ordered the construction of twelve diesel-electric submarines (two Project 877EKM and 10 Project 636 and Project 636M Amur submarines), armed with Club-S anti-ship cruise missiles, in St. Petersburg.

Beijing also bought as many as 60 air defense systems (28 S-300PMU-1 and S-300PMU-2 systems and approximately 30 Tor-M1 air defense systems made at the Almaz-Antei concern).

There are several reasons for the recent problems in Russian-Chinese military technical cooperation. One was Russia's failure to deliver on a $1.5 billion order for 34 Il-76MD Candid transport and landing aircraft and four Il-78 Midas flying tankers.

The contract had been initially placed with the TAPO plant in Tashkent, which proved to be in no condition to fulfill it. Large numbers of staff had deserted the company while it was idle, and its equipment had either been plundered or become obsolete. The contract was then moved to Ulyanovsk, which was not ready to build so many planes at such short notice either.

Most importantly, China no longer wants to buy what Russia has to offer, preferring to import weapons of its choice together with licenses and technology for their production, which Moscow is not willing to provide. China has not signed a copyright agreement with Russia and is producing the J-11B aircraft, effectively a carbon copy of the Su-27SK Flanker. Beijing even exports the plane to Pakistan without getting a permit from Sukhoi, which holds the patent for the Su planes, or paying royalties to it.

China is interested in Russian armor and artillery, including the Nona-SVK and Vena self-propelled gun, the 152-mm Msta-S howitzer, the T-90S main battle tank, the Smerch multiple-launch rocket system, the BTR-80 and BTR-90 armored personnel carriers. It has also expressed an interest in multirole helicopters, such as the Mi-28N Havoc and Ka-50 Black Shark.

But Moscow is in no in hurry to sign the agreement, for several reasons. Although China is friendly now, nobody knows how it will behave tomorrow, when new leaders replace the Old Guard who were brought up to respect the Soviet Union and Russia. The United States is openly worried over China's growing military might. Is Russia supplying weapons to an army that may turn against it tomorrow?

That is pure speculation, of course, but theories have become reality more than once before in history.

Such caution is not pleasant for China, which has suggested that Russia think about the future of bilateral military technical cooperation. Bilateral military ties would have been rolled back to zero very quickly, if not for a European ban on the supply of weapons and combat control systems to China.

But moratoriums are lifted, sooner or later. Economic expediency, financial gain, and rivalry with other arms producers and suppliers may eventually force Europe to resume cooperation with China, leaving Russia empty-handed.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese leader Hu Jintao probably discussed military technical cooperation in Beijing, and we may soon learn what they have decided. Visits to China by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Chief of the General Staff Yury Baluyevsky are still on the ministry's agenda this year.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
Russian-Chinese military relations at a low point | Features, Opinion & Analysis | RIA Novosti
 

Kunal Biswas

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re: Russia China relations

China-Russia ties tight, fruitful: Wen

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The relationship between China and Russia has never been so tight and fruitful as it is today, said Premier Wen Jiabao when meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Wednesday.

Against the complicated and ever-changing global situations, China and Russia care for each other on matters of respective major concerns, according to Wen.

"Cooperation between China and Russia based on mutual trust, benefit and assistance has effectively safeguarded the fundamental interests of the two countries, while creating a positive impact on shaping the global order," said the Chinese premier.

The international financial crisis has not only brought severe challenges but also vital opportunities to advancing bilateral ties between China and Russia, Wen told Putin.

China and Russia should fully utilize multiple mechanisms, including the regular meeting between their two premiers, to boost the quality and scale of cooperation in sectors such as trade, investment, energy and high technology, thus providing new momentum for economic construction, Wen urged.

He further suggested that China and Russia jointly promote economic cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) so as to benefit all SCO member states and enhance the organization's solidarity and competitive capacity.

The development of Russia and China has significant influence upon global economy and politics, agreed Putin.

The advancement of cooperation between Russia and China is not only in line with the common interests of the two countries, but also conducive to the peaceful development of the world, he said.

Based on the spirit of equality and reciprocality, Russia is willing to work with China to expand cooperation in key sectors including oil, gas, nuclear energy, aviation, aerospace, high technology and agriculture, added the Russian president.
China-Russia ties tight, fruitful: Wen - Xinhua | English.news.cn
 

Kunal Biswas

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Re: Russia China relations

Russia's Putin says to push military ties with China

BEIJING (*******) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he will boost military cooperation with China, including holding more joint exercises, after the United States announced plans to shift most of its warships to the Asia-Pacific by 2020.

Putin referred to recent Sino-Russian joint navy exercises in the Yellow Sea as an example of military cooperation which, he said, would go on.

We will continue cooperation also between our military," he told Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where he is attending a security summit and meeting his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao.

"Recently joint navy exercises were held in the Yellow Sea, and they were the first of such exercises. We have agreed with Chairman Hu that we will continue such cooperation," Putin said.

Chinese and Russian naval forces held six days of exercises in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast in April, with drills including anti-submarine operations and the rescue of hijacked vessels.

China deployed 16 ships and two submarines, whileRussia sent four warships from its Pacific fleet, according to Chinese state media.

"We assign an important role to the joint initiative on strengthening security in the Asia-Pacific region and in this context we will maintain the relationship between our militaries," Putin said in an earlier statement.

"We favor the formation of an open and equal-minded security and cooperation architecture in the region, based on the principles of international law," he said.

China and Russia have forged close economic and diplomatic ties following years of hostility and suspicion during a large part of the Cold War, and both have looked askance atU.S. military involvement in what they view as their backyards.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday the United States would reposition its naval fleet so that 60 percent of its battleships would be in the Asia-Pacific by the end of the decade, up from about 50 percent now.

China has long been wary of U.S. intentions, with hawkish voices in the People's Liberation Army saying that the United States was bent on encircling China and crippling its rise.

China's fast-modernizing navy has stirred worries among neighbors, including in Southeast Asia, where several countries are in dispute with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Under the U.S. plans, Panetta announced the Navy would maintain six aircraft carriers assigned to the Pacific. Six of its 11 carriers are now assigned to the Pacific, but that will fall to five when the USS Enterprise is decommissioned soon.

The number will return to six when a new carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is completed in 2015.

The U.S. Navy had a fleet of 282 ships as of March. That is expected to slip to about 276 over the next two years before beginning to rise toward the goal of a 300-ship fleet, according to a 30-year Navy projection released in March.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
 

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