Valdai Club

In the foreseeable future, the fundamental approaches of Russia and China to world affairs will coincide. Both countries share strategic interest in sustainable development. So there is a reason for coordinating actions, both in Eurasia and in the world as a whole, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.

Although the reformatting of the world is clearly accelerating, the contours of the future remain unclear. Moreover, the world, without a doubt, has yet to navigate beyond a number of critically important junctures; its choice of direction will determine what future we find ourselves in.

There are many factors that will determine the upcoming decisions, including what can be called chance or completely unpredictable circumstances, such as: natural disasters, epidemics, and fits of madness in people who have the ability to seriously influence the fate of others. But still, they are likely to take into account more comprehensible factors, such as the configuration of international agreements, the rationality of national elites and the resilience of the population in the face of various kinds of challenges.

The peculiarity of the present moment is probably that the role of bilateral relations in the current world has undoubtedly increased. This, in many ways, is because the NATO countries have united under the leadership of the United States. Willingly or unwillingly, and most likely voluntarily, the NATO countries have quite decisively separated themselves from everyone else, in fact, a much larger part of the world. There are, of course, several satellites, such as Japan and Australia, which are spiritually almost in NATO, but, in general, this does not greatly affect the balance of power in the world. Moreover, if you look closely, not everything is so simple with Japan: the mood of the political elite is not so unambiguous. However, even in the USA and even in Brussels, although radical moods are expressed to the greatest extent, it is far from unambiguous.

The countries of this majority of the world do not really want to respond by creating some kind of alternative union for confrontation with Western unification. This would be difficult, tiring and, perhaps, not very promising. But other countries do not want to exist in a world with a separate, privileged “continent of the West”, which wants to impose its rules on everyone and arbitrarily punishes the disobedient. Therefore, in response, a network structure has practically emerged, a multidimensional matrix of self-organisation involving the greater part of the world. Within its framework, new alliances are emerging; the most striking example is BRICS, which attracts participants with its emphasis on equality and freedom to search for mutually beneficial relations. No less important, and in a certain sense, perhaps even more important, are bilateral relations. Their strength lies in their relative simplicity and controllability. We see that, for example, much in the globe depends on Russia’s relations with India, Iran, Pakistan and other countries. It is clear that in this context, relations between Russia and China play a very significant role. This is not only well understood by everyone, it also causes great irritation, especially in Western countries. Sometimes it even comes to demonising these relations: they say that this is a threat to global security, and in combination with Pyongyang, it is some new kind of geometric figure of evil. In many ways, such painful political nightmares are a consequence of the refusal to accept the new reality and the willingness to treat it rationally. Both Russia and China, like many other countries in most of the world, are pursuing strategic goals: namely, the creation of a multipolar world in which there is a form of self-organisation in which all countries are equal and interact according to clear, identical rules for all.

Indeed, we live on the same planet, breathe the same air and, in addition, fly in it, sail the same seas and consume the same fresh water. If we add incredible communication connectivity, fantastically rapidly developing technologies and other wonders of the modern world, then it would be clear how necessary this new world order is for us.

So, bilateral relations pave the way to a shared future for everyone on Earth. Both Russia and China are trying together to return the world to robust freedom of trade, a healthy exchange of technology, freedom of contact, and an inclusive search for solutions to problems that affect everyone. It is even surprising that Western countries are hostile to these aspirations.

The world is big, however, and you can’t change it all at once. As it was said above, the future is created through the specific actions of specific countries, people, and associations. It is clear that for both Russia and China (and others), the situation in Eurasia, that is, where the peoples of our countries live, is important. There are, of course, more opportunities here. At least because there are already a number of mechanisms that allow for the integration of a significant part of Eurasia: the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Belt and Road project, and much more: which together allow us to hope for the creation of a successful community of Eurasian countries. At least, the Eastern part of Eurasia.

Of course, it is wrong to view bilateral relations between Russia and China as smooth. These are two large, quite different countries, with their own aspirations. However, despite all sorts of speculation, especially in the Western media, it can be asserted that relations between Russia and China are stable. China is developing its strategy, of course, primarily in the interests of China. But in the foreseeable future, the fundamental approaches of Russia and China to world affairs will coincide. Both countries share strategic interest in their sustainable development. So there is a reason for coordinating actions, both in Eurasia and in the world as a whole. Again, this basis, is rational and understandable, an equal and stable organisation of the future world, convenient for all countries and other international entities without any discrimination. Of course, for this it is necessary to develop and adopt rules of interaction in the modern world.

These and other issues will be discussed at the Russian-Chinese conference of the Valdai Discussion Club and the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University, titled “Stability and Potential: Russia and China on the 75^th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” in Moscow on October 14-15.