OPINION:
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day summit last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, their 43rd meeting since Mr. Xi took over in 2013, was an opportunity for both countries to challenge the U.S. and its leadership role in the global community.
Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin pledged a “new era” strategic partnership as rivals of the United States, “an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing discord across the world.” Mr. Xi, in his third term in power, and Mr. Putin, starting his fifth term in power, challenged the U.S.-led global order. Mr. Xi spoke of “pushing forward with changes that have not happened in 100 years.”
Mr. Putin has skillfully cultivated a relationship with Mr. Xi and persuaded China to be Russia’s economic lifeline after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the global condemnation and sanctions that ensued. The invasion of Ukraine immediately followed Mr. Putin’s meeting with Mr. Xi at the Beijing Winter Olympics, when Mr. Xi stated that China had a “no limits” partnership with Russia.
Although Russia is heavily sanctioned for its invasion of Ukraine, trade with China has increased exponentially, up more than 64% since 2021 to $240 billion in 2023, using their own currencies for over 90% of the trade. China provides Russia with cars, clothing, raw materials and other products. Of special concern are the dual-use products China provides to Russia for its war in Ukraine: machine tools and microelectronics, to the tune of about $300 million per month.
This no-limits partnership is a relatively recent development. In March 1969, China and the then-Soviet Union had a military clash on Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, with casualties on both sides and China asserting that a 19th-century border agreement with the Soviet Union was part of the “unequal treaties” imposed on China by the West. China was then concerned that the Soviets were planning a nuclear attack on China’s nuclear weapons sites.
Indeed, in this tense period, China turned to the U.S., working with their ally in Pakistan, to arrange the 1972 visit of President Richard Nixon for meetings with Chinese ruler Mao Zedong.
In 1975, liaison offices were established in Washington and Beijing, and diplomatic relations were formalized on Jan. 1, 1979. Chinese Chairman Deng Xiaoping visited the U.S. from Jan. 29 to 31, 1979, and advised President Jimmy Carter that China would teach Vietnam a lesson, which happened on Feb. 18 when the Chinese army entered Vietnam.
During this conflict, Mr. Carter’s national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, provided China’s ambassador to the U.S. with updated intelligence on Soviet support to their Vietnamese allies. This was the beginning of expanded cooperation between China and the U.S. in collecting and sharing intelligence on the Soviet Union.
In this period, the Soviet Union was on the march in Vietnam, Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Yemen, Libya, Czechoslovakia, Nicaragua, Grenada and, in 1979, Afghanistan. China cooperated with the U.S. to provide the weapons and support to the mujahedeen that ultimately defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, with the withdrawal of all Soviet combat troops by the end of 1988.
When Deng took over in 1978, he immediately looked to the United States to implement market-oriented reforms. He encouraged U.S. investment in China and sent thousands of students to the U.S. to help modernize a poor and ravaged country. Foreign direct investment in China increased exponentially, with thousands of U.S. companies investing in China and over 300,000 Chinese students in U.S. colleges and universities. On Sept. 19, 2000, the Senate gave China permanent most-favored-nation status, which paved the way for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001.
With WTO membership and significant U.S. and European Union investment in China, China’s economy experienced rapid and impressive growth. This was facilitated by enlightened economic leadership from Deng and his successors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao and their premiers, Zhu Rongji and Wen Jiabao.
Hopefully, textbooks in China will accurately document for their students the role the U.S. had — and continues to have — in China’s economic development since 1978, the tense relationship China had with the Soviet Union, and China’s strategic cooperation with the U.S. that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The irony for many, aware of this contemporary history of U.S.-China relations, is that China is now aligned with a revanchist Russian Federation that has invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation that, in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Russia provided security assurances in exchange for Ukraine’s decision to relinquish the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal. Indeed, the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine and seizure of Crimea and the 2022 Russian invasion to capture the whole of Ukraine are stark reminders that for Mr. Putin, this is just the beginning; he wants to recreate the Russian empire, and he is relying on China to help him accomplish this goal.
Yes, geopolitical issues between the U.S. and China must be discussed and resolved, like the tension in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait. Other issues include intellectual property theft and a level playing field for U.S. companies operating in China. China’s claim that the U.S. is attempting to contain, isolate and suppress China should also be discussed.
These are just some of the issues that will require greater diplomatic involvement. Unfortunately, diplomacy has taken a back seat to many of these issues, which is a grave mistake.
Indeed, there are a multitude of issues on which the U.S. and China could and should cooperate: nuclear proliferation, pandemics, climate change, narcotrafficking, international organized crime, etc. Again, this is where diplomacy should be more actively involved.
Hopefully, China will realize that cooperating with and enabling Russia, which is a pariah state, is not in China’s interest.
• Joseph R. DeTrani is the former director of the National Counterproliferation Center. The views expressed here are the author’s and not those of any government agency or department.
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