Russia and China Lock Arms Again to Defy the West

Senior officials from Russia and China talked up the staying power of their partnership this week and vowed to press on with a trade relationship conducted without the U.S. dollar.

Mikhail Mishustin, the Russian prime minister, visited Beijing for the second time this year. On Wednesday, he was given an audience with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said deepening ties between the two nations was "a strategic choice," according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

The Kremlin has found a friend and quasi-ally in Xi's China, which has so far rebuffed appeals from American and European leaders for Beijing to distance itself from President Vladimir Putin over his attack on Ukraine. China says it remains neutral on the conflict, which it has repeatedly refused to describe as an "invasion" or "war."

Leaders in the West also are increasingly concerned about growing defense ties between the two nations, characterized by the sharing of sensitive military technologies and interoperability between Russia and Chinese forces, which conducted their second joint patrols of the year in Northeast Asia last week.

"I view it as far beyond the marriage of convenience at this point in time," Adm. John Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said on Monday.

His comments were a departure from the American civilian leadership's view that Beijing and Moscow may find it difficult to truly trust one another, not least because of unease in Russia over over-dependence on its neighbor's goodwill.

In the meantime, the open cordial ties between "old friends" Xi and Putin appear to have trickled down through their respective governments and publics. China's leader has met his Russian counterpart twice this year in defiance of Western pressure.

U.S. officials regularly acknowledge that Beijing has yet to directly transfer any weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, but they say Xi has offered Putin significant political and other support, chiefly by acting as Russia's economic lifeline at a time of international isolation.

In his meeting with the Russian prime minister, China's president said bilateral trade between the two countries had reached $200 billion, in line with his and Putin's commitment to do so by next year.

Chinese customs authorities placed the exact figure of two-way trade at $218.17 billion from January to November, a year-on-year increase of 26.7 percent. And on Monday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said the economic relationship would reach $300 billion by 2030.

Mishustin's official business in Beijing began on Tuesday with a meeting hosted by his counterpart, Li Qiang, who pledged further cooperation on finance and energy.

China is one of Russia's biggest customers for oil and gas. The upcoming Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, the terms of which have been debated for nearly two decades, is expected to significantly increase Russian natural gas exports.

Li said China and Russia would together "inject greater stability and more positive energy into the world," according to a readout of his remarks released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

The Russian news agency Tass quoted Mishustin as saying that nearly all deals this year were settled in the Russian ruble or Chinese yuan, compared to around 20 percent in 2020.

"Mutual trade has increased by almost one third year-to-date. Meanwhile the majority of payments, over 90 percent, are made in national currencies, which demonstrates almost full de-dollarization of economic ties," the Russian official said.

Beijing's political backing remains important for the Kremlin's legitimacy.

In an interview with Russian news service RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Zhang Hanhui, China's ambassador to Russia, said he expected mutual contacts to be strengthened "at all levels," and that "no force will be able to cause discord" between Beijing and Moscow.