Right now Putin is in China meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shanghai. Though the talks are ongoing, they have already released a joint statement which takes several jabs at U.S. foreign policy. Specifically, the two countries committed to "reject unilateral sanctions rhetoric". Putin and Xi also agreed to expand military cooperation and expressed "grave concern" over the crisis in Ukraine, and condemned the funding of regime change. The U.S. government was not named explicitly in the condemnation, but the inference was very clear.
"The sides noted the need to respect historical heritage of countries, their cultural traditions and independently chosen public and political system, the system of values and ways of development; counteract interference in domestic affairs of other countries, give up the language of unilateral sanctions, organize aid, fund or encourage activity aimed at changing a constitutional system of a foreign country or its involvement in any multipartite association or union" the document stated.
The statement also called for “universal rules of behavior in information space,” saying that some communication technologies run "contrary to international stability and security, damaging countries’ sovereignty and violating personal privacy."
One one hand, this shot is obviously directed at the NSA, but on the other it seems to signal Russia and China's agreement on issues of online speech. As we reported earlier Russia has recently passed new laws regulating bloggers and requiring them to register with the government.
Related: Russia and China Announce Joint Naval Drills as NATO Declares Russia an Enemy
Some pro-Western analysts are watching the emergence of this Russia-China Alliance with alarm, insisting that it will have a disastrous impact if allowed to continue, and calling for diplomatic efforts to disrupt it. Incidentally these are often the same people who avidly pushed for tougher sanctions against Russia during the Ukrainian crisis, and who refused to report on the overwhelming evidence of U.S. involvement in the coup.
Western opposition to the Sino-Russia alliance is understandable. With China firmly in Russia's corner, the U.S. and Europe have no leverage over Moscow. However, less understandable is the fact that these pundits didn't see this coming.
Related: Why Rebellion Is Spreading In Ukraine
What on earth did the Obama administration expect would happen when they injected themselves into territorial disputes between China and their neighbors, while at the same time saber rattling in eastern Europe, and imposing punitive 'sanctions' against Putin's inner circle? Then, to top it all off, the U.S. government filed charges against China this week for corporate espionage. Taken as a whole it would be difficult to come up with a more effective way to push these two countries together if one tried.
The outcome of these moves was so obvious that I'm hesitant to chalk it up to gross incompetence.
Related: The Lines of Economic Warfare Are Being Drawn & The U.S. Is Not Going to Win
At any rate, the idea that John Kerry or anyone in the U.S. State Department has the diplomatic skill (or the leverage) to pit China against Russia on the global scale is patently absurd.
http://scgnews.com/china-russia-solidify-their-alliance-and-issue-joint-state...These are interesting times.
--Steve
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