Russia-China cooperation could launch new world order

2015-06-30　Source: China Daily

Editor's note: China and Russia's agreement to link their countries' key integration projects: the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union and China's Road and Belt Initiative will have long-lasting consequences for international relations at large, according to Russian media. Here are the excerpts.

Key among these agreements was the decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to link their countries' key integration projects: the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union and China's Silk Road Economic Belt.

So long as this deal proves capable of materializing beyond diplomatic rhetoric, it will have long-lasting consequences for international relations at large, analysts said. Furthermore, by agreeing to deal directly with the Eurasian Economic Union, China has moved to dispel speculation that Putin is interested only in restoring Russia's former Soviet glory, experts said. Finally, the deal reveals a lack of desire on behalf of both countries to create a Cold War-like atmosphere, wherein Moscow and Beijing would find themselves competing against one another for influence in Central Asia.

"The logic of the Russia-China relationship has changed. A strategic partnership between the two has become a reality. Other states will have to learn how to deal with this new reality," said Alexander Gabuyev, chairman of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the respected Carnegie Moscow Center think tank.

The revival of the 'Great Silk Road' that once linked China, Central Asia, and Europe coincides with the Eurasian transport corridor, which plans to include a high-speed train and road between Moscow and Beijing, and everywhere in between.

While the high-speed rail link is still just an idea, it could in theory connect Moscow and Beijing in just 48 hours.

The New Silk Road project is not only about new roads, high-speed railways, pipelines and fiber optics, but also about a naval network from East Asia all the way to the Middle East and Europe.

The immensely ambitious One Belt, One Road project, coupled with the Chinese Navy protecting its national interests in the "open seas", fit into President Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream in terms of a business master plan. The best way to build a "moderately prosperous society" is by building modern infrastructure internally and by reaching out to the world externally.

Once again, China will be exporting its massive surplus industrial capacity, will keep diversifying its energy sources and will extend its commercial influence from Central Asia all the way to Europe via Iran, Turkey and Greece.

This was originally published on The Moscow Times.