Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Research Articles

Vladivostok in interregional cooperation: problems and prospects

This article examines the features and main problems of Vladivostok as a large city in the Russian Far East and an important hub connecting Russia and China. The Russian Far East is a vast region rich in resources and focused on the vast market of the Asia-Pacific region. However, in recent years, a number of reasons have weakened the basis for the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and China. After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022, Russia actively "looks to the east" and creates a model of economic development focused on the Asia-Pacific region. The Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road" and the strategy of comprehensive openness have created conditions for the development of cooperation between the Northeast of China and the Russian Far East. In order to promote the accelerated development of the Far East, Russia is actively creating cities with advanced socio-economic development and hopes to improve business conditions in the Far East through a number of measures such as: improving infrastructure, providing tax incentives and simplifying administrative procedures in order to increase its investment attractiveness, increase employment and contribute to the economic development of the region, which will lead to the rise of the entire national economy. The following methods of scientific research were used in the work: the method of analysis and synthesis; generalized method; classification method; specific method; systematic method; phenomenological method. The main conclusions of the study are that in the overall strategic context of the modern world, China and Russia should gradually strengthen their complementary advantages and local industrial cooperation between the two countries. Vladivostok, as the fastest growing city in the Far East, has a great influence on regional cooperation between Russia and China. China has always been Russia's largest partner in the Far East in terms of bilateral trade, foreign investment and financial participation in recent years, so how to make rational use of Vladivostok's advantages and how to solve Vladivostok's current problems (for example, transport problems, demographic problems and the investment market for enterprises of the two sides) is the way to achieve the common development of both countries.

Uzbek-Turkish Strategic Partnership in the Context of Geopolitical Turbulence in Central Asia

Central Asia has long captured the attention of global and regional powers due to its abundant natural resources, strategic location, potential for economic development, transportation, logistics, and connectivity. Simultaneously, global and regional actors have intensified their engagement in the geopolitics of the Central Asian region. Under these circumstances, strengthening a comprehensive strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and Türkiye is essential to maintaining the geopolitical balance of power in the region and effectively addressing the common challenges of sustainable development. The commentary is devoted to studying the current bilateral and multilateral relations between Uzbekistan and Türkiye in the context of ongoing geopolitical turbulence and shifts at the global and regional levels.

Vietnam - India Defense Cooperation Under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects

This paper aims to analyze the achievements, challenges and orientations for Vietnam-India defense and security cooperation since both sides elevated their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2016. The study is based on qualitative analysis methods, using data from secondary documents related to Vietnam-India relations. The results show that since 2016, Vietnam and India have made significant progress in defense and security cooperation through various activities such as high-level exchanges, policy dialogues, military equipment transfers and joint training. However, some constraints remain regarding more advanced forms of cooperation. While defense ties have grown remarkably, continued efforts are needed to tap the full potential. Regional tensions also persist with China’s unilateral actions in the South China Sea. In that context, Vietnam and India need to further strengthen defense and security cooperation by expanding engagements in key areas and effectively implementing signed agreements. There is ample room for both sides to foster this key pillar of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and ensure peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

КИТАЙСКО-РОССИЙСКОЕ НАУЧНО-ТЕХНИЧЕСКОЕ СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВО: ИСТОРИЯ, ТЕКУЩЕЕ ПОЛОЖЕНИЕ И ПРОБЛЕМЫ

In 2019, China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination entered a new era. Science and technology cooperation is seen as a key pillar of the partnership and one of the most promising areas of cooperation. However, both China and Russia are facing unprecedented pressure in the field of science and technology. On the one hand, Russia has been subjected to harsh Western sanctions and technology export controls following its extraordinary military action in Ukraine. On the other hand, with the continuous improvement of China's comprehensive national strength, the United States has strengthened its containment of China, especially in the field of science and technology, and launched a technological confrontation against China. China and Russia need to work together to break the Western technological blockade. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study Sino-Russia science and technology cooperation. For the high-quality development of Sino-Russian science and technology cooperation, this paper will use methods of analysis, information synthesis, historical method and system method to review the history of Sino-Russia science and technology cooperation, research the current situation of the cooperation, and analyze the problems faced by Sino-Russia science and technology cooperation. This article argues that the most important thing for Sino-Russian science and technology cooperation is to improve strategic mutual trust and give play to the advantages of "complementarity" between China and Russia, while establishing a system for training versatile personnel. In addition, China and Russia also need to expand cooperation areas and upgrade the level and scale of cooperation by relying on such platforms and mechanisms as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS and the Belt and Road, so as to enhance the scientific and technological strength of China and Russia in the world.

China-US Strategic Competition in the Lower Mekong Region and Vietnam’s Position

Recently, both China and the United States of America (US) have started focusing more on settling influence in the Lower Mekong region in the general context of global China-US competition. Although they have different connecting approaches, both superpowers focus on establishing and maintaining their influence in the strategic geo-political area in Southeast Asia and Asia. Their activities in the Lower Mekong region are more noticeable since the 2010s when Xi Jinping came to power in China and the US conducted the “Pivot to Asia” and “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” policies. Their competition therefore raises difficult tasks for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (CLMTV) to keep neutrality, and protect their national sovereignty and the regional sustainable development. As the China-US competition in the Lower Mekong region is remarkable and profoundly influential to the development of regional countries, both academic scholars and policy makers pay attention to this subject. This paper focuses on evaluating the recent competition between China and the US in CLMTV and Vietnam’s adaptations to maintain its sovereignty, security and neutrality in the great-power competition, especially since Vietnam established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with both China (2008) and the US (2023).

Sino-Russian military relations in People’s Daily in 2014-2022

The significance of the topic under study is due to substantial advancements in Sino-Russian military cooperation amid the 2014 Ukrainian crisis and Russia’s deteriorating relations with the West. After the USSR collapse, Sino-Russian military relations and cooperation have significantly expanded through further development of form and content. Sino-Russian military diplomacy is playing an important part in comprehensive strategic partnership and coordination in the international arena. Since the onset of crisis in Ukraine in 2014, a confrontation have escalated between Russia and many Western countries, which indirectly prompted Russia’s pivot to Asia. In this context, military cooperation between China and Russia is getting increasingly closer. The purpose of this study is to clarify the state and prospects of Sino-Russian relations in the sphere of military diplomacy in the period between 2014 to 2022, as reflected on the pages the People`s Daily newspaper. A general analysis of the articles made it possible to identify major areas of cooperation and principal features of interaction in this sphere.

Southeast Asia in the context of the rivalry between the USA and China

The article examines the specifics of the situation in Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia) from the point of view of military security issues and in connection with the situation in the Indo-Pacific region (ITR). The author proceeds from the fact that a serious destabilizing factor in the region remains the presence of intraregional contradictions - political, territorial and ethno-confessional, which are used by extra-regional actors under the auspices of the United States. Having identified China and Russia as the main rivals, Washington improved its Indo-Pacific strategy, activated the activities of existing ones and began to form new military-political alliances, on the basis of which it is envisaged to create an Asia-Pacific branch of NATO to contain them. The author believes that Washington's policy in Southeast Asia is opposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which proceeds from its central role in the evolution of the regional security architecture. In the context of the escalating rivalry between the United States and China, ASEAN sees a way to overcome the complex of regional contradictions in creating a security system based on mechanisms associated with ASEAN. In the ASEAN concept, the ITR appears as a region of dialogue and cooperation, not competition, open to China and other interested states to participate in the project. The author comes to the conclusion that such a statement of the question is justified both from the point of view of the strategic interests of the Southeast Asian countries themselves, and in general of the entire ITR. Analyzing the strategy adopted by Washington, the author believes that it becomes a long-term factor of strategic planning in the Pentagon. Its main goal will be to forcefully counter China's policy and put pressure on Russia and ASEAN, which seek to resist the dominance of the United States in the IT. In his opinion, in the current conditions of the situation, it is necessary to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and China and deepen cooperation with ASEAN on the basis of common interests in order to ensure regional security and stability.

GEOPOLITICAL VIEWS AND GEO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS ON THE GERMAN STRATEGY AND EU WIDER FRAMEWORK RELATIONS WITH CHINA

On July 13, 2023, the German Government has released the first national strategy related to approaching China in international relations, including from a geo-economic perspective. The text of the German strategy is of significant importance for other EU member states and the EU authorities, as it encloses aspects pertaining to the industrial policy and cyber-security, serving nonetheless as a use-case and / or a model for developing a coherent approach to China, including the perspective of economic diplomacy in the larger context of policy dialogues with China. From a diplomatic stance, China has anchored international relations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, some of which being EU members – in 2012, China forged partnerships via the “16+1” Cooperation, later extended after the Dubrovnik Summit to “17+1” by the adhesion of Greece. China looks to consolidate bilateral relations in Europe via a multi-level approach and sectorial-specific coordination (to include trade, energy, financial technologies, forestry, maritime services, etc) and the German strategy complements the projected EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership, rather than to be an alternative to it. In this context, the paper explores the implications of the German strategy towards China from the European viewpoint and analyses its value-added potential to supporting the wider angle of EU international relations towards China. The research hypothesis is that in the current international geopolitical context related to China, the German strategy enhances at the national level the guiding principles of EU approach to managing the relations with China and adds value to EU economic diplomacy instead of duplicating it. The research methodology is focused on a qualitative analysis of documented authentic scientific public resources and synthesis of key aspects from a geopolitical and geo-economical wide angle of Sino-European relations. The conclusions draw on the fact that China acts as an international challenger, on a path to consolidate its international role and the EU and the German strategies towards China support the mitigation of exposures to economic dependencies by de-risking linkages rather than economic de-coupling from “a partner, a competitor and a systemic rival” at the same time, as designated by EU.

Vietnamese online media leaders’ and citizens’ perspectives on Vietnam-US relations

After more than 26 years since the normalization of Vietnam-US relations, cooperation in all fields, including the most sensitive ones, such as military, security, and politics, has significantly advanced. Moreover, the political beliefs of the people and governments of the two nations have at least partially converged. Therefore, it is time for Vietnam to consider the United States’ proposal to elevate their relationship from a comprehensive partnership (2013) to a strategic one. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies through content analysis, we first focus on particular areas of cooperation between the two countries, especially in development, and clarify the policies and desires to deepen collaboration and relations from both sides. The paper then evaluates Vietnamese public opinion regarding Vietnam-US relations by analyzing online articles in Vietnam. However, it is noteworthy that the announcement made on September 10, 2023, by the respective top leaders of the United States, President Joe Biden, and the Communist Party of Vietnam, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, regarding the elevation of Vietnam-US relations to the utmost level of comprehensive strategic partnership, bypassing the intermediate stage of a strategic partner, has indeed surpassed the anticipations of the Vietnamese populace. Contrarily, this phenomenon can be considered commonplace when examining the escalating dynamics of support from political leaders and the general populace toward Vietnam-US relations.

China-ASEAN Agricultural Product Trade and Its Impact

With the establishment of the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Area, a worlds largest consumer market is forming which includes over 2 billion people. According to the Early Harvest program, the terms of trade of agricultural products bilateral have been improving and the volume has increased significantly, overall presents a strong resource-market pattern of mutual benefit and complementarity. This paper describes the present situation of China-ASEAN trade pattern of agricultural products, meanwhile points out the complementary and competitive relationship of agricultural products trade and the problems exist as well as the countermeasures. This is quite significant for China to improve its agriculture competitive in the region and even in the world. This paper uses the comparative advantage theory analysis method. Although the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership needs more efforts and cooperation from both sides, agricultural trade is one of the important concrete actions for laying the foundation for prosperity and peace of bilateral relations.

A New Phase in Sino-Iranian Relations: 25-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

This paper presents Iran and China's 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership as a new stage in their relationship. The 15-year agreement's potential to strengthen Sino-Iranian relations is discussed in the paper. The goal of the paper is to investigate, in particular, Iranian perceptions of the deal and to consider how it might affect ties between Beijing and Tehran. The focus of the paper is on the analytical approach used to show how the agreement may affect the relations between the two countries. The paper's findings indicate that Iranians have two opposing views on the agreement. While some support the agreement, others criticize the government for signing it. Furthermore, the paper indicates that if the agreement is implemented, it will deepen relations between Tehran and Beijing in a variety of ways. The paper would help to broaden our understanding of regional and international relations, particularly those between Iran and China.

“Diplomacy of Heads of State”: Chinese Media about Xi Jinping’s Visit to Russia in March 2023

The visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation attracted a lot of attention from the Chinese media, which was manifested in a large number of publications on this topic in the media and social networks. The purpose of the study was to analyze news reports and messages on the Weibo social network about the state visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation and determine its role in strengthening bilateral relations between China and Russia. For the first time, the main principles of China’s foreign diplomacy, implemented in a particular state visit, were considered by the example of how they were perceived by public opinion. A content analysis of news reports from mainstream Chinese media showed that this diplomatic move is highly appreciated. The authors of the publications noted the high significance and effectiveness of this visit. A statistical analysis of publications on the Weibo social network showed that public opinion also generally assesses Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia positively, paying attention to the content side of Russian-Chinese relations. In general, strengthening and deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia in the new era is a strategic choice made by countries based on the domestic political and domestic economic situation, which is in line with the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries and the development trend of international relations. The results of the study showed that China has always pursued an independent foreign policy, and promoting the development of Russian-Chinese relations at a high level is a strategic choice made by China, taking into account its internal development and overall diplomatic strategy.

An Empirical Study of Trade in Goods between China and Brazil: Analysis of Competitiveness and Complementarity

China and Brazil established the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” in 2012. Since the establishment of the partnership, China and Brazil have continued to deepen economic and trade cooperation, and cooperation in various fields has achieved remarkable results. China has long been consistent in maintaining its status as Brazil’s largest export destination and source of imports. The total volume of bilateral trade between China and Brazil has significantly increased, and the trade structure in goods is becoming increasingly diversified. The total volume of bilateral trade between China and Brazil has grown considerably, and the trade structure in goods has become increasingly diversified. On 20 April 2023, when Brazilian President Lula visited China, China and Brazil issued a joint statement on deepening the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”, further deepening the cooperation in trade in goods has become a consensus. From the perspective of goods trade under the comprehensive strategic partnership, the article analyses the complementarities and competitiveness of goods trade between China and Brazil with the help of relevant formulas to form a complete and transparent study of the goods trade between the two countries.

Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Russia: Immigration, Business Problems and Cooperation Prospects

The paper analyzes some features of Vietnamese immigration to the Russian Federation. We provide estimates of the number of Vietnamese citizens living in Russia, their distribution by region, and key areas of employment. The results obtained in the work are based on official data published by Rosstat, the Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, as well as some survey data conducted by the authors of the article. We can say that despite the existence of an agreement on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” between Russia and Vietnam, the potential of Vietnamese migration remains underestimated. The structure of migration flows from Vietnam to Russia is dominated by labor and educational migration. However, in recent years Russia has lost some of its advantages, which were formed during the Soviet Union. Vietnamese migrants find new directions for migration. Among them are the countries of ASEAN, the USA, the countries of Europe. The main barriers to realizing Vietnam's migration potential in relation to Russia are the maintenance of an asymmetric visa regime, a decrease in the competitiveness of Russian wages, and high bureaucratic barriers to the entry of Vietnamese businesses into Russian regions. Additional risk factors are geopolitical tensions and the volatility of the ruble exchange rate. Nevertheless, it is noted that there is still interest from Vietnamese entrepreneurs to open a business in Russia. Opportunities for expanding Russian-Vietnamese migration ties may lie in the plane of the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam, ratified in October 2016.

몽골과 러시아 간의 경제협력 현황과 주요 과제

Diplomatic between Mongolia and Russia has developed rapidly from “Good Neighbor Relations” in 1993 to “Comprehensive strategic partnership” in 2019 while overcoming the stagnation during the 1990s through active political exchanges. In order to strengthen strategic cooperation, they have actively promoted policy sharing, which could lead to economic viability. With shared policies and political support, the two countries could increase bilateral trade to $10 billion. Infrastructure, such as the railroad and road transmission networks linking the two countries, was also expected to improve. Mongolia expected to increase exports of key commodities such as meat and knitted fabrics. And Russia has several key fields that it considers important in order to maintain its influence on Mongolia including the transportation sector such as railways, fuel supply and distribution, energy industry such as electricity, and mining industry such as uranium. In recent high-level talks between the two countries, the main agenda is to strengthen economic cooperation in these areas, namely, cooperation between state-owned enterprises, promotion of large-scale projects, human resources training, and expansion of capital investment. In some cases, they have restricted investment by foreign companies or private entities in related businesses. However, bilateral trade between the two countries barely reached to 2 billion US$. It seems that a different approach is needed to visualize the results of large-scale development projects and lead to trade expansion. The purpose of this paper is to review the recent trade relationship between Mongolia and Russia and major policy projects under the premise that the outcome of economic cooperation between the two countries will be shown in trade and investment relations.

Algeria’s Strategic Position and Its Implications for the Development of China- Algeria Relations

Abstract Algeria is an important country in Africa and the Middle East, which plays an active role in African affairs. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it has maintained a harmonious and friendly relationship with Algeria. In 2014, Algeria became the first Arab country with which China established a comprehensive strategic partnership. Within the framework of China-Algeria comprehensive strategic partnership, the two sides have broad space for cooperation in regional and international affairs. The development of China- Algeria relations is conducive to raising friendly cooperative relations between China and Arab and African countries to a new level, and to the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Middle East and Africa.

Beyond Energy Cooperation: People-to-people Exchanges Between China and Saudi Arabia

Abstract People-to-people and cultural exchanges shape political mutual trust based on value recognition, which constitutes the premise and foundation for the establishment of a long-term stable cooperative relationship between China and Saudi Arabia, and has become a significant driving force for China and Saudi Arabia to surpass their traditional energy partnership and build an all-round cooperation pattern. While consolidating cooperation in traditional fields, China and Saudi Arabia are also constantly developing new areas of cooperation and growth points. People-to-people exchanges between the two sides are witnessing new trends in the rise of youth exchanges, the heating up of “Chinese fever”, the exploration of joint archaeology and digital transformation, while still facing a series of challenges such as periodic turmoil in the Middle East, differences in national conditions, discourse interference, lagging software and hardware construction, limited supply of cultural products, and low accuracy of cultural communication. In the future, China and Saudi Arabia need deepen their people-to-people and cultural exchanges by improving the strategic layout, strengthening resource allocation, innovating communication forms and achieving the integration of culture and tourism, thus these exchanges can play a more prominent role in promoting a new pattern of China-Saudi relations that goes beyond traditional energy partnership to further enrich their comprehensive strategic partnership.

A New Lighthouse on the Horizon: The Emergence of ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Recently, China has made a comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP) with ASEAN that would open up more opportunities for the two parties. However, some view it as another success on China’s part as it now has gained influence over ASEAN. But such a view that downplays ASEAN into a mere instrument for China’s plan in the region would not provide a proper view. Through the use of qualitative research methods over data gathered through the internet and documents, the article seeks to shed light over the forthcoming points. First, the article lays out the things that the CSP brings both for ASEAN-China relations and ASEAN’s standing in the Indo-Pacific. Here, the partnership paves the way for stronger ties between ASEAN and China, not to mention the impact it has towards ASEAN’s growing centrality. The article then proceeds with the challenges that may arise following the emergence of the partnership. On this matter, the inconsistent cohesion within ASEAN along with the ongoing competition for influence in the region can be viewed as some of the challenges. After that, a discussion over the many opportunities for enhancement is also presented. Here, the partnership would allow ASEAN to maintain its growing centrality in its many channels, one of which is its ASEAN way that guides the interactions and norm settings in the region. With all that laid out, it can be understood that the creation of the partnership does not make ASEAN lose its luster, rather it accentuates its centrality in the Indo-Pacific.

DIASPORA IN INDONESIA-CHINA RELATIONSHIP AT THE COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP ERA

Diaspora is a potential non-state actor as a driver of people-to-people connections between the country of origin and the country of residence. People-to-people connections are part of public diplomacy, increasing in importance with information and communication technology. Indonesia-China relations have existed for more than seven decades, experiencing dynamic ups and downs. Since the inauguration of the Strategic Partnership between Indonesia and China in 2005 and then in 2013, it has increased to become a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and bilateral and multilateral relations have tended to increase. Bilateral and multilateral relations have managed to grow. However, from the Indonesian side, there are still classic obstacles in the relations between the two countries, namely the suspicion of China's good intentions and the role of the Tionghoa (Chinese Ethnic Group). The Tionghoa is an Indonesian citizen but culturally is a part of the Chinese diaspora. Despite that, along with the rapid progress of China, the number of Indonesian citizens (WNI) and descendants of Indonesian citizens living and-/or settling in China is also increasing rapidly and can be categorized as the Indonesian diaspora. How can the Indonesian diaspora play a role in people-to-people connection to increase mutual understanding between the two nations and reduce suspicion? that is the subject of this article. This research uses a historical approach to look at the role played by the diaspora, especially the Indonesian diaspora in China, in helping to improve Indonesia-China diplomatic relations.

Japan-Iran relations in the post-war era: The Middle Eastern dilemma for Japan

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran did not change its policy towards Japan, which was not only perceived separately from the West, but was also a major customer of its raw resources and a potential economic donor. In turn, Japan had to pursue the policy of unstable balancing towards Iran, by coordinating its Middle Eastern policy with its strategic ally, the United States, and simultaneously trying to preserve close ties with Iran, which were important from the point of view of maintaining energy security. The article shows how Japan tried to maneuver between these two countries: it took steps to realize large-scale economic projects in Iran’s energy sector, to limit sanctions, which were minimal on its side, etc., and simultaneously participated in the anti-Iran campaign pursued by Western countries under the pressure of the US, or under the influence of major crises in the region (for example, the Iran-Iraq War). Japan continues to face this “Middle Eastern dilemma” in present times as well. It could partly have been solved by the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program in 2015, were it not for the fact that, two years later, under the US administration of Donald Trump, the US-Iran relations worsened significantly. Nevertheless, in this period, Japan successfully tried its mediatory potential, making use of its good relations with both parties of the conflict: on the one hand, it refused to participate in the US operation in the Strait of Hormuz, on the other, it halted the unfreezing of Iran’s funds in its banks, which had been blocked after the introduction of sanctions by the US administration of Donald Trump. Recently, the activization of China in the region has become a factor of risk for Japan’s Middle Eastern policy, as China tries to use the weaking positions of the US and to occupy the vacuum that was left in its wake, which is illustrated by the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement between Beijing and Tehran in March 2021. This forces Japan to deliberately strengthen its positions and expand its presence in Iran. It appears that Japan’s approaches to solving the “Middle Eastern dilemma” deserve special attention in the future as well.