"Behind China and Russia's 'Special Relationship'"

During the Cold War, one of the ways that the US sought to maintain the status quo was by playing China and Russia against each other.

Looking at how we are essentially conceding to Russia on subjects such as Ukraine, Syria, along with easing sanctions, etc.; it is also curious that we also look to be conceding regional hegemony to China. Our current government seems to be perfectly happy to denigrate NATO, the EU, etc. in the West, and it is clear that we are not going to pursue a regional trade pact (which was going to exclude China) in the East.

So if you, like me, are curious about "How are Russia and China getting along these days?" the answer appears to be "quite well":

http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/behind-china-and-russias-special-relationship/



The 2014 Strategic Partnership, ratified shortly after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, amid the launch of U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia, is widely regarded as the most enhanced in terms of depth and breadth of economic, political, and security relations of any one of China’s or Russia’s network of strategic partnerships.

Some of the much-publicized and high-profile deals emerging from the 2014 Strategic Partnership included a 40-year gas supply agreement between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The landmark gas supply deal, including plans to build the “Power of Siberia” gas pipeline, was indirectly referred to in the 2014 Strategic Partnership as a measure aiming to “strengthen the Sino-Russian energy partnership.”

A further deal with Russia’s largest oil company, state-owned Rosneft, involving financing deals with CNPC to supply oil worth up to $500 billion from Russia’s largest oil field, was also established shortly after, prospectively enabling Russia to surpass Saudi Arabia as China’s main supplier of oil.

....

In this vein, China and Russia have been accelerating their joint military drills including holding their first joint naval drills conducted in the South China Sea this year. According to senior officers at China’s Central Military Commission and Russia’s Defense Ministry, since both sides are faced with a more complex international security environment, closer mutual cooperation has been widely considered a necessity.