By the time Australia has its first nuclear-powered attack submarine, Russia’s Pacific fleet will have grown to 45 warships.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin toast during their dinner at the Kremlin in Moscow in March 2023.
(Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The spectacle of two UN Security Council members — China and Russia — allegedly perpetrating mass atrocity crimes is deeply troubling. Here’s how the international community must step up.
China’s lunar rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit 2, on the Moon, January 2019.
EPA/CNSA via AAP
Joseph Torigian, American University School of International Service
China has provided Russia with economic support during the war in Ukraine. But Beijing may be concerned over recent events in Moscow.
China’s President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin cement bonds at the Kremlin in March.
Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images.
The US’s negative attitude towards BRICS reflects its own weakening global power, especially its inability to isolate Russia in Europe and to contain China’s growing influence.
Who is the ‘big brother’ now?
EPA-EFE/Sergei Bobylev/Sputnik/Kremlin pool
The Chinese leader’s alignment with Putin would have sat awkwardly with previous leaders, who understood China’s best interests were served by avoiding costly entanglements.
Although Russia does not need Chinese military assistance in any potential invasion of Ukraine, Beijing’s political and economic backing is encouraging for Putin.
While all eyes are on China’s response to the new AUKUS security pact, Russia matters, too. After all, it has its own nuclear submarines that could now be marketed all over the region.
Wary friendship: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi after talks in March 2021.
EPA-EFE/Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry
Both Russia and China are signalling they will only deal with the West where and when it suits them. They are also increasingly comfortable working together as close partners.
Some fear that Chinese investment will lead to a painful trade-off between Ukraine’s desperate economic needs and its long-standing democratic dream.
Sasha Maksymenko/flickr
Ukraine desperately needs Chinese investment but, like many other countries in this position, this is giving rise to concerns about the consequences for its fragile democracy.
Senior Lecturer and Director of the SITADHub (Social Impact Technologies and Democracy Research Hub) in the School of Communication, University of Technology Sydney