Over the past 15 years Russia has been hoping to form a common anti-American, if not a broader anti-Western front with China. The two countries engage in similar rhetoric, bemoaning a “unipolar” world in which a single superpower – the United States, of course – aspires to control the global economic and political system, runs the financial system that was based on its dollar and dictates other countries how to comport themselves. However, while the Russians have been spoiling for a fight with the “Great Satan”, the Chinese have behaved very cautiously and never ventured beyond passionate tongue-lashing.

Since Russia finally broke with the West and came under

economic sanctions a year ago, it has been trying to sidle up to China. Kremlin

has been talking about reorienting its trade away from Europe and toward Asia

as a matter of long-term strategy, most notably by sending its oil, natural gas

and other natural resources to Chinese markets and buying Chinese products

instead of Western ones. Important commercial agreements have been signed and

the Russian government has started to lease tracts of Siberian land for China

to develop, exploit and ultimately settle.