The Chinese are careful to convey that they are not aiming to supplant Russia’s “privileged” position in the region. Still, Moscow, even while deepening its own ties with China, eyes the Chinese expansion with some wariness. Whatever the rhetoric, Chinese investment in energy and infrastructure in the region does weaken the underpinnings of Russia’s privileged sphere and supplants Russian influence. But for now, Russia sees itself as the prime beneficiary of investment from and trade with China—and, beyond economics, from the strategic relationship, which has become a major fact of
...more
