'No limits' association amid China and Russia has restrictions, the professor states

September 19, 2022: -China holds the “dominant position” in its relationship with Russia, and President Xi Jinping is no longer prepared for Moscow to “act as it pleases,” according to one political analyst.

“It’s an unequal partnership, and China is in the dominant position in the relationship,” said Matthew Sussex, an associate professor from Griffith University in Australia. He attributed it to the fact that Russia needs China more than China needs Russia.

The comments come a day after the Chinese leader met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand. It was the two directors’ first in-person meeting since Russia launched an unprovoked war on neighboring Ukraine in February.

During the meeting, Xi expressed that Beijing was “ready to work with Russia” so that they could support each other’s “core interests,” according to Chinese state-backed media Xinhua, which listed the areas of cooperation as trade, agriculture, and connectivity.

But Sussex pointed release that a China-Russia partnership may not be on equal footing.

Sussex explained this might indicate that Beijing has “some real concerns and real problems” with Russia regarding the conduct of the conflict.

The conflict has so far claimed 34,000 lives; according to an August report by the New York Times, Ukraine lost 9,000 troops while Russia lost an estimated 25,000 lives on the battlefield. Moscow has referred to the attack on Ukraine as a “special operation.”

Still, the strategic partnership amid China and Russia will continue to exist, said associate professor at the University of Nevada, Xiaoyu Pu.

He said the alliance is such that both powers can counter “Western hegemony,” a term used to explain the West’s dominance politically, socially, or economically in the global community.

“China needs Russia’s strategic sort of partnership to counterbalance against Western hegemony, so China and Russia keep trade to maintain a normal economic relationship,” he said.