Why did Russia’s Putin talk up ‘historic’ China ties at St Petersburg cultural forum?

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration on relations with China reaching a new height indicated that Moscow was worried about a possible US-China detente, an observer said.

According to the Russian studies expert, Putin’s message was a clear response to recent diplomatic efforts in Beijing and Washington to ease strained ties, culminating in last week’s presidential summit between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in San Francisco.

The Sino-Russian relationship was “truly unique” and had “never reached such a height and quality in the history of our states”, Putin told the St Petersburg International Cultural Forum on Friday.

He was responding to a query from Wang Xudong, curator of Beijing’s Palace Museum, about the expectations from bilateral cultural interaction relating to museums.

The two countries had “a very high level of cooperation in all the most important areas”, Putin said. “This year we will almost certainly have 200 billion [US] dollars of trade turnover, and we will certainly go further, and at a fairly rapid pace, changing the quality of our cooperation.”

01:51

Xi Jinping: China, Russia will defend ‘justice’ in first meeting since Israel-Hamas conflict

Putin’s comments appeared directed at the Chinese public, said Wan Qingsong, an associate researcher at East China Normal University’s Centre for Russian Studies in Shanghai.

“Putin was responding to a question from the director of China’s Palace Museum. [His response was] obviously a bit off-topic, and clearly had an element of targeting Chinese public opinion, with Russia believing [Putin’s remarks] would be reported by Chinese media,” Wan said.

He said Putin’s intent to influence global public opinion was “clear” – given his generalisations on overall Russia-China relations at a culture-focused forum.

“With China and the US interacting very closely recently, the public opinion in the world, including China, has made Russia very nervous,” Wan said.

Xi returned to Beijing on Saturday following a four-day visit to San Francisco, where apart from the summit with Biden he also held talks with several world leaders on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meetings.

03:12

Xi Jinping, Joe Biden hold talks on sidelines of Apec summit to ease strained US-China ties

On Wednesday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said China and the US had the right to build on bilateral relations, adding that “every meeting … that involves the world’s two largest economies is important for everyone”.

At their summit, Biden pressed Xi to continue to withhold military support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

While Washington concedes that Beijing has not directly supplied arms to Moscow, trade with China has become increasingly crucial for Russia’s sanctioned economy.

Bilateral trade grew by more than 29 per cent to US$190.3 billion last year, with China also replacing Europe as the biggest buyer of Russian energy products.

China and Russia supercharge trade with record US$25 billion grain order

Meeting Xi in Beijing during the belt and road forum last month, Putin pointed out that the annual bilateral trade goal of US$200 billion had been reached earlier than expected, according to the Kremlin.

Putin’s visit was his first trip to China since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February last year, a few weeks after China and Russia pledged themselves to a “ no-limits” partnership.

Putin also hailed relations with China, telling the belt and road forum that “external factors” that posed “common threats” would “only strengthen Russian-Chinese cooperation”. Meanwhile, Xi highlighted how he and Putin had met 42 times since 2013.

South China Morning Post