Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-pw477 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-07T22:58:36.994Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The China-Russia Partnership And US Policy Options

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Mel Gurtov
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

China's international position is quite strong: it has leverage over Russia, which is increasingly dependent on China for economic and military aid; and it is in a strong bargaining position with the European Union, which relies on Chinese trade and investment. These circumstances might not seem conducive to improvement in China-U.S. relations, especially since many longstanding issues, such as on Taiwan and trade, remain unresolved. But progress in some areas, notably military-to-military talks, have (as Chinese officials see it) “stabilized” relations. This article argues that if the U.S. develops a China policy that emphasizes finding common ground rather than, as at present, devising ways to contain and deter China, some elements of China's foreign policy might change and serious tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea islands could be calmed. Furthermore, it addresses incentives–in particular, U.S. acceptance of the Chinese principle of partnership, not rivalry– to wean

Keywords

US-China relationsChina-Russia relationsUkraine warTaiwanSouth China Sea disputeChinese
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 22 , Issue 6 , June 2024 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2024

References

1 For background, see David E. Sanger, New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West (New York: Random House, 2024) and Jim Sciutto, The Return of Great Powers: Russia, China, and the Next World War (New York: Dutton, 2024).

2 See Sergei Radchenko, “Introduction,” Asian Perspective, vol. 47, no. 3 (Summer, 2023), pp. 341-347.

3 Alexander Gabuev, “The West Doesn't Understand How Much Russia Has Changed,” The New York Times, May 15, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/opinion/putin-china-xi-jinping.html.

4 David Pierson and Paul Sonne, “Putin Will Visit Xi, Testing a ‘No Limits’ Partnership,” The New York Times, May 14, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/14/world/asia/putin-china-xi.html.

5 Roger Cohen, “Xi Bristles at Criticism of China Over War in Ukraine,” The New York Times, May 6, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/world/europe/xi-macron-europe-trade-war.html. On China's very large investments in Europe, mainly through the Belt and Road Initiative, see Carlos Lima da Frota Araujo, “Exploring Chinese Investments in Europe: Scope and Governance Dynamics,” Asian Perspective, vol. 48 (2024), pp. 71–93.

6 Cohen, “Xi Bristles at Criticism of China Over War in Ukraine,” The New York Tmes, May 6, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/world/europe/xi-macron-europe-trade-war.html.

7 Melissa Eddy, “Why Germany Can't Break Up with China,” The New York Times, April 16, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/business/germany-china-tariffs.html.

8 See Mel Gurtov, Engaging China: Rebuilding Sino-American Relations (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022), as well as Elizabeth C. Economy, The World According to China (New York: Polity, 2022); Wu Xinbo, “Chinese Visions of the Future of U.S.-China Relations,” in David Shambaugh, ed., Tangled Titans: The United States and China (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), pp. 371–388; and Wang Dong, “The San Francisco Vision: Assessing the Xi-Biden Summit,” Global Asia, vol. 18, no. 4 (December, 2023), pp. 90–95.

9 For background on China-Taiwan tensions, see Richard C. Bush, Untying the Knot: Making Peace in the Taiwan Strait (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2005). On President Lai's China policy, see the interview by the PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/taiwans-presidenturges-china-to-end-threats-as-beijing-says-independence-is-dead-end.

10 Adam S. Posner makes a good case for “removing most [US] barriers to Chinese talent and capital” as incentives in light of increasing signs of China's economic weaknesses. See his “The End of China's Economic Miracle,” Foreign Affairs, vol. 102, no. 5 (September-October, 2023), pp. 118–130.