Russia values Beijing ties more than Washington

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“Russia is an opponent of convenience, it is easier to be hostile to Russia when you sit in Washington, but to be hostile to China, it is very expensive,” said Andrey Kortunov, Director General of RIAC.

The chief of the state-backed think tank talked frankly about the US interest in ties between Beijing and Moscow on Tuesday's Dialogue program, based on the fact that the Donald Trump administration listed China and Russia as "strategic competitors" in its National Security Strategy report which was published in 2017.

However, US-Sino relations are strained by the US government containing China's rise by igniting a tariff war on July 6, several days later Trump described Putin as a "good competitor" on Monday`s one-on-one summit between Russian President Putin and US President Trump.

Russia's Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin (L) and the Chairman of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, He Lifeng shake hands at a ceremony to sign joint documents following Russian-Chinese talks. June 8, 2018 /VCG Photo

Will the special and important strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing be divided by the diplomacy of Washington? Kortunov suggests that most Americans don`t like the idea of a friendly relationship between Russia and China, and would rather see more tensions.

Policy makers in Washington, DC are concerned about both sides in Beijing and Moscow and believe that Washington could offer something more to both countries.

“But frankly I don`t know what Washington can offer Moscow that would be more important than the current partnership of China. China is simply much more important,” according to Kortunov.

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He explained the different attitude of the US, that for the United States, pleasure comes before business. To fight with Russia is a pleasure and to fight with China is business. Russia has become a domestic political target of the US, while China is a much more expensive issue.

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When the soil and beans producers, American farmers and even Wall Street are considered, it is rather obvious that China is too connected to the United States. This shows why a large amount of the US experts on China are pro-Chinese.