INTRODUCTION Rationale groups of countries: Since the end of the Cold war, the main concern of countries has been to establish a new world order, in which powerful countries play a role as “main actors” in the international politic stage Among the powerful countries, America has an ambition to monopolize the world while the other countries such as Russia, China or group Countries such as West Europe want to multi-polarize This conflict in the strategic target had led to the fierce competition among powerful countries Although the cold war has ended together with the effects of the confrontation between the two poplars, the establishing and developing the relationship between Russia and China made America worried Therefore, America considered the dominating China and Russia as an important content of their foreign policy on the path of monopolizing the world However, this calculation of America had been the important force boosting China and Russia to enhance their strategic relations Russia – China relationship after the cold war has played an important role in forming the new world order This is the relation of two powerful countries, which affects directly the stability in Asia in particular and the world in general, including Vietnam Therefore, “how has the Russia – China strategic relationship been formed and developed? And whether will they confirm their position – the main actors in the international politic stage?” has been the question attracting many researchers in the world For Vietnam, the changes in the history of Russia – China relations has ever affected deeply Vietnamese Revolution At present, both Russia and China are important partners of Vietnam, therefore, studying about the current Russia – China relationship has been essential to Vietnamese researchers due to its deeply practical meaning With the above meanings, the author has decided to choose “Russia Federation – People's Republic of China relations (1992 - 2008)” as the thesis’s topic with the aim of giving contribution into solving problems which researchers care about The history of studying the topic The development of Russia – China relations in recent years has attracted many researchers, strategic research organizations in the world Study of foreign scholars In Russia: Most Russian researchers have an optimistic point of view about the development of Russia – China relationship through evaluations: Russia – China is a new model relationship of Russia – China, and now, the relationship between two countries has reached the highest peak in last 40 years of development; “China - Russia relations has been the relationship between two wonderful global powerful countries, this relationship could change the world model” However, Russian researchers also pay attention to the problem whether “the threat from China” exists or not In China: Most researches in China on China – Russia relations have a common evaluation about this relation According to Chinese researchers, their relationship, in fact, is the strategic partnership Basing on that, Chinese researchers stated that this relationship will more and more develop, which will cause great effects on the world and give contribution into establishing a new world order In addition, Japanese researchers also pay a lot of attention to relationship between Russia and China Most of the researches affirm the positive development of China – Russia relationship; therefore, they suppose that Russia and China has formed a new model of partnership in the trend of globalization In the West: In contrast with Russian, Chinese and Japanese researchers, American and Western researchers have different viewpoints about Russia – China relationship The U.S researchers stated that this was a two-floor relation: the first floor is Russia – China relations in ties with Western countries, and the second one is the Russia – China relationship with the U.S and Western countries Both Russia and China try to promote the bilateral relationship to build a “giant shadow” to America However, according to the U.S researchers, the cooperation between Russia and China is a competition; therefore, it is unavoidable to face conflicts This relationship may develop in the future but it may contain many potential limitations in depth In general, other Western scholars have had many researches on Russia – China relationship; however, their points of view not have any common in evaluating the relationship that the world cares about Some scholar say that the Russia – China relationship is a quite special alliance established from the demand of the both sides Specifically, Russia gave precious “gifts” of military and military technology while Russia is “sunk into the world of gold and dollars” from selling oil to China Therefore, Russia – China alliance has the same characteristics as the Soviet – China alliance founded in the 50s of the XX century On the other hand, the others say that state China – Russia alliance is established mainly on the basic of the acknowledgement about benefits and threats from the US They did not highly appreciate the future of Russia – China relationship It means that the anti-American orientation of this alliance is difficult to be carried out In general, American and European scholars quite doubted the relation rather than believed its development Even when evaluating the future of Russia – China relation, most researchers felt pessimistic Therefore, many researchers and experts in many countries have studied and wrote many works about this problem, however, the viewpoints are very different, and even there is a total conflict in evaluation opinions In Vietnam In the current context of the globalization, Vietnamese researchers have paid special attention to the relations of large countries in general, and Russia – China relations in particular Institute for European Studies has had many research thesis about Russia such as “Russian Federation and Eastern Europe before the XXI century” (March, 1994); The summary record of science conference “Russia Federation in Asia – Pacific region in the post-cold war” (October, 1995) and writings about Russia – China relations in areas of economy, politics on Magazine of Institute for European Studies, etc All researches confirmed that the “strategic partnership” of Russia and China has been made great effects on the current international environment Center for Chinese Studies has held many conferences on China’s development such as “People's Republic of China – 55 years of building and developing” (2004); “China – 25 years of open-door reform” (2003) These works not only analyze the reforming and economic, politic, social achievements of China, but also analyze, evaluate Chinese foreign policies of the third and forth leader generations as well as the relations of China with large countries including Russia Modern Defence Knowledge Magazine – the publication of Second Central Commission of Military Intelligence also published writings discussing about relations among large countries in the world, consisting of Russia – China relations Further more, some research magazines such as International Magazine, Communist Magazine, International Journal of Political Economy, Asia Pacific Economic Review, and Southeast Asian Studies also have works on large countries’ relations, including Russia – China relations in new era Although Vietnamese organizations and researchers have studies about Russia – China relations after the cold war, the results have been just published on magazine with the contents focusing on some areas and in some specific period There have not been any comprehensive researches on Russia – China relations from 1992 to 2008, as well as any analyzing and evaluating the relations under the viewpoint of history From the above requirements, we choose the topic“Russia Federation – People's Republic of China relations (1992 - 2008)” with the aim of contributing a viewpoint of Vietnam about this problem The study object The object of this thesis is the relations between Russia Federation and China in the period of 1992 – 2008 Scope of study Regarding to the name of the thesis: The thesis is named “Russia Federation and People’s Republic of China relations”; however in the thesis in general and the sections in particular, the thesis used “Russia – China relations” The sections named “Sino – Soviet relations” used “the Sino - Soviet” instead In terms of contents, the thesis focuses on studying in the following scope: The factors affecting Russia – China relations: The thesis focuses on analyzing the main factors such as international factors, American factor, the trend of developing the relations between two countries and historical factors (Soviet – China in the period of 1949 - 1991) The contents of Russia – China relations: The thesis studies the relations between Russia and China on areas of politic – diplomatic relations, the economic, trade and energy cooperation, and security – military cooperation Evaluating the effects of Russia – China relations: This relation has affected all continents (Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America) at different levels, and affects the international relationship, however, the thesis just emphasizes on the influences of the relations on the two countries, on Asia and the movement of the new world order In terms of time, the thesis studies the relations in the period of 1992 – 2008 For Russia, 1992 was the milestone remarking the development of Russia Federation after the collapse of Soviet Union and 2008 was ending year of V.Putin’s term To China, the th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1992 was a new turning-point in development of People’s Republic of China, especially; it remarked the adjustment in their foreign policy (from “peaceful independence” policy to policy of “relations with large countries”) The year of 2008 was evaluated the important time when Chinese new policy got basic achievements, building foundation to launch new adjustments in foreign policy at the 7th National Congress of the Communist To understand more deeply and systematically about Russia – China relations, the thesis will mention some events before 1992 and after 2008 Aims and objectives of the study * Aims of the study: After 1991, both Russia and China have an ambition to boost the relationship between the two countries to the “strategic partnership” However, this ambition also goes together with the fiercer and fierce competition, which has made challenges to the development of the relations between them So, what are the causes of this reality? What are the effects of the Russia – China relations (1992 - 2008) on the region and the world? Solving those problems is the final purposes of this thesis * Objectives of the study: - The thesis studies factors affecting the Russia – China relations (1992 - 2008) on the basis of studying effects of the international, regional and domestic situation on China and Russia It also studies the relationship between Soviet and China for over 40 years with many ups and downs in the history (1949 - 1991) to make evaluations which are the foundation for studying process of Russia – China relations in the postcold war period Basing on that, the thesis will analyze adjustments in foreign policies of China and Russia since 1992 so far and analyze the relationship between the two countries in fields of politics – diplomacy; economic, trade and energy cooperation; and security – military cooperation - From that foundation, the thesis will further study the characteristics of Russia – China relations in order to give out special characteristics, analyze effects of this relationship on the two countries, on Asia – Pacific region and on the forming a new world order In addition, the thesis will evaluate the movement trend of Russia – China relations in the future Sources: - Original materials: The thesis takes original materials including documents on foreign policies of Russia and China; agreements, common announcements and contents of discussions at senior levels of Russia and China since 1949 so far as the foundation of studying and evaluating the topic In addition, the materials also include documents of Congress of China and the messages of Russia’s Presidents - Other references: + The thesis have referenced foreign materials, mainly sources, which are materials of Russian researchers, materials of Chinese’s researchers, and works of researches worldwide to access from many point of views about Russia – China relations, which helps to make appropriate comments and evaluations + The thesis uses researches of Vietnamese scholars as references, especially, researches of Institute of European Studies, Institute of Chinese Studies under Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and materials of nowadays researchers on Russia – China relationship The method of study: The thesis is studied based on the viewpoint of Vietnamese Communist Party on foreign policy and international relationship, taking it as the methodology to carry out this topic The historical and logical methods are the basic ones to present, analyze and explain the problems in the thesis The method of international studies also plays an important role in this thesis The events, historical changes of the relationship between two countries are always analyzed and evaluated on the basic of the specific historical contexts, and international situation In addition, the methods of statistic, synthesizing, analyzing, comparison, collating, and the method of forecasting are also used to solve the problems in this thesis The expected contributions of the study: - On the basis of generalizing the whole history of Soviet – China relations before 1991, the thesis has re-drawn the picture of the process of establishing, developing of Russia – China relations in areas of politics – diplomacy, and economy – trade, and security – military from 1992 to 2008 - Having studied the relationship between Russia and China in the international context and the situation of two countries, the thesis has shown influences of this relationship on the region and the world, initially gave out the evaluations on the movement of Russia – China relations in the coming time - The thesis will be a reference material for researching, teaching the international relations, the history of China and Russia in modern time, as well as for Vietnamese foreign affairs Organisation of the study Apart from the introduction, conclusion, references, and appendix, the thesis consists of chapters: Chapter 1: The overview about Soviet – China relations from 1949 to 1991 and the factors affecting Russian Federation – People's Republic of China relations (1992 - 2008) Chapter 2: The development and main achievements of Russia Federation – People's Republic of China (1992 - 2008) Chapter 3: Comments on Russian Federation – People's Republic of China Chapter THE OVERVIEW ABOUT SOVIET – CHINA RELATIONS FROM 1949 TO 1991 AND THE FACTORS AFFECTING RUSSIAN FEDERATION – PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA RELATIONS (1922 - 2008) 1.1 The overview about Soviet – China relations (1949 - 1991) 1.1.1 Soviet – China alliance relations (1949 - 1959) After the success of Chinese revolution, on October 2, 1949, Soviet formed the diplomacy with China The two countries officially formed the “strategic alliance” relationship by signing the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and mutual Assistance on January 14, 1950 During the 1950s of the XX century, the Sino-Soviet alliance relations got many achievements Soviet became the support for China, and vice versa, the alliance with China helped Soviet to have a strong politic partner 1.1.2 The conflicts in Sino – Soviet relations (1959 - 1979) * From 1959 to 1969 From 1959 to 1969, Sino – Soviet relations had splits, then split up, and fell into the difficult period The conflict between the two countries was shown in 1955 – 1956 The policy “Great Leap Forward” of China in 1958 was the split up of China from the Soviet model After Soviet withdrew all experts from China, and cut off most material and military support for China in June 1960, the Sino – Soviet relations was more difficult From 1961 to 1965, the Sino – Soviet conflict was more public on media Two sides blamed, criticized each other, making a politic war between the two countries From 1966 to 1969, the Sino – Soviet tense was more and more complicated with the highest peak of the arm conflict in the boundary in March 1969 After that, two countries agreed to come back to negotiate, however, the big negotiation in October 1969 still reached an impasse It means that 1969 was the milestone remarking the total change of the Sino – Soviet “strategic alliance” relationship, pushing two countries to conflict poles *From 11969 to 1979 The conflict between the biggest socialist countries at this time was the gold opportunity for the U.S to pull China as an alliance to fight against Soviet And China quickly ran toward the U.S In fact, both the U.S and China wanted to take advantage of each other to get their own targets Consequently, Sino – Soviet relations was not only in tense situation but also the enemy relations for 1970s of the XX century The Sino – Soviet conflict in 1970s created threats to the regional peace and security This conflict made Asia – Pacific not peaceful as its name any longer, even it was facing storms and “tsunami” Sino – Soviet conflict at this time enhanced the Cold War between the two poles between Soviet and America within Asia, affecting negatively the regional security 1.1.3 The process of normalizing Sino – Soviet relations (1980 - 1991) Coming to 1980s of the XX century, the economic crisis forced Soviet to adjust their foreign policy toward reduction in arms race, confrontation with America and moving towards normalizing the relationship with China To China, the move “America alliance for anti-Soviet” failed From that fact, China, once again must adjusted their foreign policy Both Soviet and China came back to each other On August 5, 1982, the fist negotiation round between two countries about the relationship normalization was taken place However, for the first years of the 80s of the XX century, Sino – Soviet relations just stopped at the level of “ice melting signal” – not total normalization due to existing problems In the end of the 1980s, when China promoted the door-open reforming, the demand of a peaceful environment was more and more necessary than ever At this time, Soviet stepped into the reform period and continued to adjust the foreign policy on the basic of “the new politic thought”, moving toward stopping the confrontation and respecting the friendly cooperative relations with all countries in the world, especially normalizing the relationship with China With both advantageous subjective and objective conditions, the Sino – Soviet confrontation reduced quickly and the relationship between two countries came to the period of ice-melting The year of 1989 was the important milestone for a new period of Sino – Soviet relations – two countries announced to normalize their relations and stated “to close the past, and open the future” The years of 1990 and 1991 were considered the time to complete the normalization of Sino – Soviet relations The achievements of Sino – Soviet relations at this time were considered as the foundation for Russia – China in new period 1.2 The Factors Affecting Russia - China Relations 1.2.1 The international situation after the cold war and the influences on Russia - China The world’s changes have been shown through changes in economy, politic situation, the balance of power in the world and the international relation ideology After the cold war, the economic situation in the world was the association and globalization which promoted the economic exchange In addition, imbalance development still created a fierce competition among countries and regions The international politic situation in the transitional period formed a new world order, which enhanced the cooperation among countries to fight against American conspiracy of monopolizing the world It means that the subjective situation had boosted the international relationship to develop both in width and depth This was the subjective condition for forming the strategic relationship between Russia and China In addition, the balance of power in the world after the cold war had been changed Being a powerful country with potential exceeding all alliances and competitors, America wanted to establish a mono-polarized world while other large countries wanted to establish a multi-polarized world This certainly formed alliances in the world To control Russia and China, America relied on Japan and pulled India, while the need to compete with America boosted Russia and China to support each other and enhance their coordination In the context of globalization, the ideology in the international relations among countries has changed Although the competition among countries is fiercer and fiercer, all countries wish to be peaceful and stable to develop Therefore, the relations among large countries since the post-cold war have changed in both contents and model Despite the existing conflicts, they always promoted the cooperation development When all countries are forced to enhance their cooperation to develop and powerful countries have to form allies for national benefits, Russia – China was also established as a result 1.2.2 The effects of American factor on Russia – China relations After the cold war, America became the only superpower country, which had created opportunities for them to monopolize the world To get their target of forming a monopole world, America must keep their exceeding advantage in power and maintain the position of controlling the world by all means Therefore, for last two dedicates, America have given the top priority to control Russia and China * For Russia, America took advantages of the weakness of Russia after the collapse of Soviet to enhance their control over Russia with the aim of eliminating the military strength and preventing the recovery of Russia This forced Russia to face threats from many directions: the west was strength of NATO, the east was the conflict with Japan about Curin Island, and the strength of US – Japan alliance, the south was Kavkaz and the unstable Mid-Asia *For China, the US’s conspiracy of controlling China was always clear and showed strongly because after the Cold War, China not only developed more and more quickly but also they still remained their socialist-oriented development Both Russia and China were under the direct threats from America, therefore, certainly, they had a common condition to ally in order to fight against America and protect themselves In contrast with the closer relationship between Russia and China, America enhanced their harsh measures, which threatened more Russia – China relations It was the ambition of the US to control Russia and China that made the relationship between China and Russia closer, creating a fierce and interesting chess with the decisive role to the new world order 1.2.3 The position of Russia Federation and the demand of relations with China After the collapse of Soviet, the economic difficulties made Russian position in the world reduced However, in the XXI century, the recovery and developmnet of Russia Federation helped them to re-confirmed their position and role as a powerful country in the world From the stable economic and politic development, Russia is coming back with their position of a powerful country Especially, with the military strength, Russia is still a competitor of America Russia’s orientation of developing a multi-polar world was contrast with the US orientation of monopolizing the world, which forced the U.S to control “the emerging” of Russia Federation To develop their economy, Russia, in deed, needed a peaceful environment as a foundation To state their position as a powerful country in the world, Russia firstly needed to affirm their postion of a powerful one in the region Furthermore, to fight against America, Russia needed an alliance like China Therefore, the Foreign policy “European – Asian Orientation”of Russia since 1994 had focused on building “the friendly neighbor belt”, with special attention to Asia – Pacific in which China had the most important role in Russia’s foreign policy Since 2008 up till now, while the U.S has enhanced every measures to control Russia, the foreign policy “European – Asian Orientation” of Russia has been completed in terms of both theory and practice In both the foreign policies in 2000 and 2008, developing the relationship with China was always one of the most important contents of foreign affairs of Russia in Asia – Pacific 1.2.4 The development of China and relationship demand with Russia Different from Russia, in the new millennium, China had passed the reform for over 20 years and got many achievements The economic strength of China kept being enhanced Specifically, in 2001, GDP of China ranked the 6th in the world, in 2007, they ranked the 3th in the world (after America and Japan) The strength, effects and position of China continued to be enhanced in the world, which made the U.S worried Therefore, the U.S always tried to tighten the control over China In that context, coming to 1990s of the XX century, facing changes of the region and Asia – Pacific, China adjusted their foreign policy from “peace independence” policy to “powerful countries” policy with priority given to the relations with large countries and neighbors to get three targets of strength, property, and the international position Among powerful countries, China gave a special priority to the relationship with Russia as Russia is not only a powerful country but also a neighbor More importantly, Russia was the only country providing weapons and ensuring military strength for China when China was isolated The abundant energy source of Russia was more and more important to Chinese development Especially, both Russia and China were facing challenges causing by the US; therefore, the relationship with Russia would help China to create the counterbalance with America to serve their internal and external benefits Therefore, since the Cold War ended, in the context of “one superpower and many powerful countries”, America strengthened their control over Russia and China As a consequence, Russia and China need the support of each other to affirm their position in the world This was the foundation for Russia – China relations, promoting The proximity of geography and the long relation history were the important foundation for Russia – China after 1991 Further more; with the new ideology of the international relations that gave the top priority to the national benefits, both Russia and China needed a peaceful environment for developing Those factors had made encouragements promoting both of the countries closer Apart from the advantages of the international condition, Russia and China both had the same strategic benefits and the same competitor Therefore, it can be said that with objective and subjective advantages, Russia and China met each other in the strategic ideology as well as action purposes Chapter THE DEVELOPMENT AND SOME ACHIEVEMENTS OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION – PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA RELATIONS (1992 - 2008) 2.1 THE POLITICAL – DIPLOMACY RELATIONS 2.1.1 The forming and improvement of Russia – China relations (1992 - 2000) 2.1.1.1 The period of 1992 - 1995 From 1992 to 1993, the political – diplomacy relations between Russia and China developed from the normalization before In 1994, China and Russia decided to improve their relations to the “constructive partners” based on the principle of not allying or fighting any the third partners”, “no expansionism and anti-suzerainty, anti-super politics, and not forming competitive political, military and economic alliances” In fact, two countries confirmed their wish to promote the world toward multi-polar orientation The achievements in politics – diplomacy of Russia – China in this period was that two countries established the key principles, identified the basic orientations of the bilateral and multilateral relations 2.1.1.2 The period of 1996 – 2000 The year of 1996 was the important turning point in the development of Russia – China relations Two countries signed the common announcement, committing to boost the relations to a new peak “the strategic partnership” The events in 1997 continued to affirm the development of two countries’ relationship To meet the demand for developing the "strategic partnership”, Russia and China, being responsible to the public in their capacity as permanent member of UN Security Council, signed a joint statement on promoting the forming a new multipolar world order on the basis of peace, equity, justice and season In 1998, 1999, the economic and political crisis of Russia had certain effects on Russia – China relations However, the event that Russia Federation became a permanent member of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in November 1998 made advantageous conditions promoting Russia – China relationship Besides, the effects from Kosovo war; from the event American Air Force bombed Chinese Embassy in South Slavia on July 5, 1999 became the encouragements for Russia and China to promote their “strategic partnership” As a result, in these two years, Russia – China relations continued to gain many achievements The important events of two countries’ relationship were institutionalized; the border problem was nearly solved, most protocols signed in December 1999 were launched Russia and China really built a common front to fight against military actions of NATO in Kosovo and criticized the failure of United Nations as well as America’s using “breaking human rights” as a means to enhance their political strength Since 2000, two countries have focused on identifying the orientations for the relationship development oriented toward good neighbor relations on the basic of strategic cooperation In addition, in the “Anti-missile announcement”, Russia and China expressed worry about the U.S’ plan of building missile defense system On that basic, two countries opposed the US’ plan of building national missile defense system Therefore, the strength and role of Russia – China relations are started to be affirmed in the world The year of 1996 was a positive turning point in the development of the relations Developing from constructive partnership to strategic one opened a new page for Russia – China relations However, the strategic relations in this time were just the initial foundation 2.1.2 The development of political – diplomacy relations between Russia – China (2001 - 2008) 2.1.2.1 The period of 2001 – 2005 The new milestone in the development of Russia – China relations was the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between People's Republic of China 10 and the Russian Federation signed July 16, 2001 This event give the signal of the establishing a strategic relationship which could affect the future of Europe – Asia The launching the Treaty 2001 in the period of 2001 – 2005 was greatly meaningful to improvement and development of Russia – China relations The politic – diplomacy efforts of the two countries played an important role in ensuring the stability and security in Asia – Pacific In 2005, Russia and China signed the common statement announcement on “The world order in the XXI century”, which stated the strength of this relation which was more and more enhanced in the world By 2005, the “equity, confidence, and strategic cooperation” in the Treaty 2001 became the orientation of actions and development of Russia – China relations From 2001 to 2005, the border establishing problem was basically solved The viewpoint of Russia and China in acknowledging and solving international matters had basic common, especially in orienting a multi-pole world The effects of Russia and China on the international relationship were clear and clear 2.1.2.2 From 2006 to 2008 The “national years” in Russia and China in 2006 and 2007 stated the important role of two countries’ relations in improving socialism, promoting the comprehensive relationship between Russia and China In 2008, Russia and China continued to realize their strategic partnership on the global level This was not the new breath in Russia – China relations but also helped to deepen the political relationship With the confidence in each other, more exchange, and closer friendship, “Russia – China relations became a new model for relations among countries.” 2.1.3 The achievements in Russia – China boundary identifying The process of identifying the west border between Russia, China with MidAsian countries was quite smoother, quicker and more effective than the common border matter The identifying the Eastern border was more difficult than that of the Western border However, Russia and China still won The Eastern border Agreement basically established the border on river of Amur, Ussuri but could not establish the border of islands as Bolshoi Ussuriskii, Tarabarov, which made two countries “continue to negotiate” In 1997, Russian government launched a solution of “common owning” which was accepted by China However, China had not totally satisfied with this result, therefore the “common owning” in “un-agreed places” contained potential problems In other words, Russia – China border was not stable In 2004, Russia and China signed the added agreement on the Eastern border In this agreement, Russia accepted to give up the hold over the Tarabarov Island and about half of the Bolshoi Ussuriskii Island while China also agreed to give up the hold over islands near Kharbarovsk of Russia On that basic, in 2006, Russia and China signed the Agreement on the national border regulations between Russia Federation and People Republic of China, finishing the border identification between two countries and giving out specific, clear rules on actions at border areas 11 On July 21, 2008, Russia signed the agreement to return two above areas to China Then, on October 14, 2008, Russia officially returned Tarabarov and a half of Bolshoi Ussuriskii Island to China Therefore, the year of 2008 was considered the time milestone of completing Russia – China border identifying, ending the conflict for 40 years and opening a new way for development of the two countries’ relation 2.2 THE MILITARY – SECURITY COOPERATION 2.2.1 Russia – China military cooperation After the collapse of Soviet, Russia Federation inherited all military strength of Soviet, therefore Russia was still a powerful country in military At that time, the demand of importing weapon of China was increasing; therefore, the military relationship with Russia was important to China From 1992 to 2002, Russia supplied 91% of weapons to China on average In early years of the XXI century, this number was 94 – 97% From 1992 to 2007, China was the important weapon customers of Russia with a large volume of fighting flights and modern submarine From 1995 – 1997, weapon exporting of Russia reached $58.4 billion, in which exporting to China made up for $28 billion In 2008, two countries continued to carry out military technology projects on manufacturing military weapons And now, China has owned the largest numbers of Sukhoi flights Russia – China military cooperation helped Chinese military be modernized quickly in the late 90s Since 2003 so far, two countries often holds common military exercises under many levels and in different places every two years with the typical ones in 2005 and 2007 Through these exercises, Russia – China relations in areas of military and security keeps being closer The promotion of military relationship and technical transference of Russia to China in recent years has brought economic, political benefits to China, and helped China modernize their army, promoting Russia – China relations More importantly, it has the strategic meaning, which helps Russia and China counterbalance America in Asia – Pacific 2.2.2 Russia – China security cooperation The disorder of the international environment in the transitional period to form a new world order and the calculation of America about a mono-polar world put both Russia and China into the condition of being threatened by the outside factors Therefore, both Russia and China had the same worry, benefits and voice in security and national sovereignty Consequently, security cooperation was consided as the main content of Russia – China relations in the post-cold war era in fields of both traditional and non-traditional security 2.2.2.1 Russia – China copperation in area of traditional security In recent years, Russia – China on areas of communication security always moved toward two main purpose which are the world security and removing threats from America Together with identifying the border from 1991 to 2008, Russia and China focused on reducing army to the lowest level at border ares to build a peaceful, friengly border This result created a good condition for both countries to build a secutiry environment along the border, ensuring the security to develop the economy 12 and deal with other international problems Since 2005 so far, Russia and China have paid much attention to build a peaceful, security relationship along the common border with direct support of the Far East and the Northeastern China Promoting security cooperation at many levels to deal with controling, surrounding of America from many directions, and mantaining the secutiry environment were the important orientation of Russia and China In Northeastern Asia, Russia and China tried, through 6-partner-negotiatons, meetings of UN Security Council, to move toward de-nuclearization in South Korea by peaceful path For Taiwan, Russia totally agreed with the Chinese unification viewpoint In Mid-Asia, Russia and China tried to solve the disorder in Iran and enhanced theri cooperation in SCO to limit effects from America on the security environment in this region The existing conflicts in the security environment around Russia and China were just like “undercurrent” but they were very fierce Controling those undercurrents and traditional security were the most important results of Russia – China security relationship 2.2.2.2 Russia – China non-traditional security cooperation The emerging problem in the non-traditional security to Russia and China in particular and to the region and the world in general in the past years has been the threat of terrorism and the environmetal security Therefore, in the early years of the new millenium, the security cooperation in this field became the essential and vital factor to Russia and China Firstly, Russia – China security cooperation to fight agaisnt terrorism was enhanced in the context that both Russia and China had a common worry about terrorism, secessionism, and extreme Two countries not only developed the bilaterial security cooperation but also focused on connecting with Mid-Asian countries to control the risk of loosing the non-traditional security through Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secondly, Russia – China relations on the environmental security in the past years was the main content appriciated by two countries The focus of this cooperation between Russia and China was to protect the water resource China – Russia Committees on environmental protection established in 2006 have run effectively Through the security cooperation, Russia and China affirmed their important roles in improving the peace in Asia-Pacific It was the foundation promoting the economic, trade cooperation between two countries 2.3 THE ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL REALTIONS AND ENERGY COOPERATION 2.3.1 The economic – trade relations 2.3.1.1 The growth in the economic – trade relations of Russia and China In the 90s of the XX century, Russian and Chinese goverments paid a special attention to promote the ecomic relations However, in this time, many projects, plans on developing Russia – China economic relationship were not finished or “forgotten” due to many causes such as Russia’s difficulties, which made Russia – China economic – trade relation have low effectiveness (in 1992, the two-way trade turnover reached $58.4 billion, in 1994, it was $5.1 billion, and in 1997, it was $6.0 billion and that of 2000 was $8.03 billion) 13 In the XXI century, together with building cooperative relations, Russia and China paid more attention to develop the economic relationship The efforts of two countries were new encouragement for Russia – China relations in area of economy The economic – trade relation of Russia – China grew with quick speed (the two-way turnover in 2001 reached $10billion; in 2002, it was $10.67 billion In 2003, it made a breakthrough with $15.76 billion, incrsead by 32.1% in 2004, it reached $21.23billion – increased by 34.7%; in 2005, it was $29.1 billion – rising by 37.1% From 2006 to 2008, together with the comprehensive development of Russia – China relations, the turnover between two countries continued to increase with new records at $33.4 billion in 2006, $48 billion in 2007, and $55.9 billion in 2008, an increase of 38.7% over the same period of the previous year The economic – trade relationship at border of the two countries was one important channel From 2000 to 2008, the economic – trade relationship between Russia – China border area was more effective (in 2006 particularly, the border trade between two countries was $10.28 billion, up 33% compared with 2005, and 44.4% compared with 2004, in 2007, it reached $17.72 billion (making up for 36.8% of total the Russia – China turnover and in 2008, it increased by 29%) According to the statistic of the trade turnover of main industries in the early years of the XXI century, China became the forth largest trade partner of Russia (after America, German and Italia), and Russia ranked the 8th position among trade partners of China If including the trade turnover of two countries through small industries, Russia – China economic – trade relations have been hotter with the warmness of the politic – diplomacy realtions At present, Russia and China are trying to promote the economic – trade relations between two countries with the target of getting the twoway turnover of $80 billion in 2010 2.3.1.3 Russia – China trade structure The structure of exporting of Russia to China In the 90s of the XX century, the trade structure of two countries was not formed clearly The volume of products exported to China most were weapons, then equipments, machines and materials In contrast, garment and shoses were most of the exported products of China to Russia Since 2000 so far, the export-import structure of two countries has been formed clearly and become stable gradually, however, the ratio of products has been changed as the time: In 2000 – 2004, besides transportation equipments which made up for most of Russian exported products (23.4%), materials increased sharply and become the main exported ones of Russia to China Since 2005 so far, Russia – China trade structure has been changing with higher ratio of crude materials They ranked the first in the exported products of Russia to China (51.6 – 74.8%) By 2008, minerals (mainly crude oil and petroleum) still ranked the first position (56.4%) among exported products to China, then wooden products and pulp made up for 15.5%, equipments and machines only occupied 4.4% The exporting structure of Russia to China in the past years has been the increasing crude materials, and reducing technical machines 14 The structure of exporting of China to Russia For China, main exporting products were consumer products such as garments, electric products, groceries, in which garments made up for most From 1996 to 2000, the consumer products was the main exported ones and kept increasing in the exporting structure of China to Russia while equipments, and transportation means made up for a small part and did not increase However, in 2005, besides keeping the postion of the consumer products, machines increased quickly (2.5 times), about 20% Since 2006, the structure of exporting of China to Russia has changed sharply and has been stable in product groups, including: (1) Machines, equipments, transporation; (2) Garments and consumer industrial products; Metal, chemical and other ones The goups (1) and (2) always kept the first rank, however, the group (2) kept increasing and ever exceeded to the leading position By 2008, machines, equipments and transportation means in the exporting structure of China to Russia occupied 53.9% (up 19.3% compared to 2007), and garments, shoses increased 0.6%, while metal products reduced 0.2% The exporting structure between Russia and China was condisered to be unbalanced in terms of model, in fact, the structure expressed a special relation about the supporting each other of the two ecomonies 2.3.1.4 Russia – China economic cooperation The economic cooperation showed the depth of the international relationship Besides promoting the growth speed of the two countries’ trade, the goverment and economic industries of Russia and China paid much attention to the long-term economic relationship through the common plans, projects at both the central and border levels In the 90s of the XX centure, Russia – China economic cooperation was officially cared by the two countries’ goverments However, at this time, due to the weakness of Russian government, most cooperative projects were just mentioned equivocally, or unfinished or slowly carried out From 1996 to 2000, many cooperative projects which focused on developing transportation infrastructure connecting two countries and developing technology – science were signed and many of them started to be carried out In addition to atomic techonolgy projects, two countries signed and launched many big economic ones such as: the project on building the complex residental area “Baltic Pearl” in St Petersburg; The project on building Chinese business center “Park Huamin” in Moscow; The project on building paper and pulp with capacity of 300,000 tons/year in Khabrovsk; The project on building The Federation Tower in Moscow business center, etc On the basic of increasing economic relations, the direct investment of Russia into China and vice versa from 2005 to 2008 increased remarkably Total accumulated foreign investment in Russia and China (American dollar) 2005 2006 2007 2008 Chinese investment into Russia 465 935 1374 1614 Russian investment into China 541 610 660 720 Compared with China, the position of Russia among big trade partners of China was quite more modest due to limitations in Russian economy This was an umbalance in Russia – China economic relations 15 2.3.2 Russia – China energy relations In Russia – China economic relationship, the most important goods were energy, therefore, energy cooperation had become one of the important contents of Russia – China relations In the early 90s, Russia – China energy cooperation had many limitations due to small demand of China From the middle of the 90s of the XX century, energy became more and more important content of bilaterial discussions between leaders of China and Russsia * In terms of petroleum On September 9, 2001, the agreement on building the 2400km oil pipeline connecting Siberia (Angarsk), Russia with Daquing, China with capacity of 20 million tons/ year was officially signed Then, on the foundation of common agreements 2002 – 2003 emphasizing “the cooperation in energy plays a speical role to both countries”, petroleum of Russia carried to China by train ensured to supply to China (in 2004, it was 88,000 barels/day, in 2005: 110,000 barels/day and in 2006, it was 200,000 barels/day) On December 31, 12, 2004, Russia decided to make a great adjustment to the project of building oil pipeline, revoming the plan of Angarsk – Daqing oil pipeline in order to export petroleum to many countries such as China, Japan, Korea This decison was considered as the challenge to Russia – China relations because it made China unsatisfied In fact, all countries must obey the rule in economic relations as in the market, profit is the most However, after giving this decision, Russia announced to give priority to connect the oil pipeline from Skovorodino of Russia to Daqing (60 kilometers) to provide petroleum to China soon and announced to tripple the petroleum supplied to China by train It was the fact that from 2004 to 2008, Russia became the fifth country among countries exporting petroleum to China * In terms of gas Apart from petroleum, Russia was a big gas supplier of China From 1997, two countries had important agreements such as gas surveying at Kovytkinskoe, Irkutsk; the project on building gas pipeline to China (4500 kilometers in length from Kovytkinskoe across Monglo to Rizhao – Shandong Province); the project on building the 4100km gas pipeline from Urengoy field in Tomsk (Siberia) through Altai and Xinjiang Province to Shanghai However, these projects had not been carried out Since 2004, when two governments paid more attention to promote the energy cooperation, Russia – China cooperation in gas has been enhanced The Action Plan to launch the regulations of The Treaty 2001 between Russia and China in period of 2005 – 2008 signed on October 2004, leaders of two countries directly mentioned the launching of Kovykta gas project In March 2006, Gazprom and CNPC signed a protocol on carrying gas from Russia to China with content: “The development of exporting gas from Russia to China includes two periods The first period, Russia will export gas to China through the Western road of Russia – China border based on traditional manufacturing areas of Western Siberia The second period, the Eastern road will be built across Eastern Siberia and Sakhalin fields connecting with China” As calculated, the first gas volume 16 would be exporting to China from early 2001 with capacity of 68 million meter cubic/year and these pipelines would be finished for years Together with cooperation in gas and petroleum, the electricity cooperation between Russia and China came into stable and has been developing In 2006, Russia supplied China with 800 million Kw/h of electricity and 1.4 billion kW in 2007 In addition, Russia and China focused on cooperation to develop electricity industry, in which Russia supported China about technical science The results of Russia – China cooperation in electricity were a series of signed projects on building power plants; a series of power plants (hydroelectricity, atomic electricity) which were built (the typical one was Lian Yan Gang – Lien Van Cang atomic electricity plants in Jiangsu Province “Tianwan Project”) The potential of Russia – China energy cooperation was very big Russia – China relations in energy, although, had certain limitations (the freezing of many projects), petroleum became the gold key to help Russia to open the door of Asia Russian petroleum slaked the thirst of the Chinese giant industry Petroleum contained the economic, political and security contents It became the connection, tightening the strategic Russia – China partnership Chapter THE COMMENTS ON RUSSIAN FEDERATION – PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA RELATIONS (1992 - 2008) 3.1 SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF RUSSIA – CHINA RELATIONS (1992 - 2008) 3.1.1 Russia – China relations is the strategic partnership Russia – China relations since 1992 so far has been built on the foundation of the strategic alliance and friendly neighbor relationship It contained both basics: the same benefits and proximity of geography which were a very foundation for the relations between two countries During the development process of their relations, two countries have shown their efforts in removing differences and harmonizing the benefits to get the strategic targets This relationship was built and developed on the basic of the combination between the national benefits with the regional and international benefits It was on the macroscopic scale, meeting the strategic demand of both Russia and China, suiting the era’s trend Those factors have been the strength for both countries to harmonize all conflicts, overcoming historical shortcomings to build and develop the comprehensive and long-term strategic partnership It is enough for us to state that Russia and China have the comprehensive strategic relations Russia – China relations from 1992 to 2008 developed from the relationship normalization (1992 - 1993) to the constructive partnership (1994 - 1995) to the strategic partnership from 1996 From 1996 to now, Russia – China strategic partnership keeps developing in both width and depth, forming a model of a comprehensive strategic partnership 17 3.2.1 Russia – China relations is the Pragmatism one between two neighbor powerful countries with difference in the ideology With the longest common border, the relationship between Russia and China is firstly the neighbor relations However, the special characteristic of this relationship is that both Russia and China are the powerful ones with larger areas, crowded population and national benefits related to the global benefits The connection between two powerful countries having common border such as Russia and China is a very special relationship The more typical characteristic of this relationship is the total difference in ideology But two countries “closed the past”, avoided the policticalization of the idea to build and develop the strategic relationship However, the thorough typical characteristic of the relations is the Pragmatism One of the decisive factors promoting Russia – China relations to be closer was America factor Due to having the common competitor, Russia and China had to cooperated to fight against America However, in the context that America was the “superpowerful” country causing the effect on the world, both Russia and China still respected the relations with America, needed Americal and took advantage of America to rise Clearly, from the starting point of Russia – China relations, the pragmaticsim was the core of forming purpose Russian using energy as a means to balance the strength in the relationship with China, Chinese taking advantage of Russian weapon, the competitive calculations of Russia and China in Mid-Asia, the finding benefits from the same viewpoints of Russia and China and courting the strength of each other in the relations were all the pragmaticsim The pragmatic attitude of Russia and China, of course, brought many results for national benefits as well as for the common mission of both However, the objective rule was when a relation was established, developed based on the pragmaticsim, that relation always contained potential risks In addition, pragmaticsim exited, this relation would have to accept ariations 3.1.3 The duplicity affecting the closeness of Russia – China relations Inside the Russia – China relations, there were both conflicts and benefits Therefore, during the development period, the duplicity of the cooperation and competition still existed within Russia – China relations, which caused remarkable effects on the relations Besides the supporting of each other in terms of developing conditions on the basic of the same national benefits, Russia and China needed to create a peaceful environment in the region as well as in the world As a result, the cooperation in Russia – China ties in recent years has kept being enhanced both in width and depth However, beside the promoted coopeartion, competion and controling each other still existed The first indication of competition between Russia and China was the competition in the relationship with America Both Russia and China respected to improve the relations with America; therefore, they competed with each other in developing the relations with America The second expression was the competition in strength: both Russia and China wanted to control the strength of each other 18 When comparing with other relationship pairs, the cooperation is the strategic one while the competition between two countries was just tactics and the conflict in benefits in situations, therefore, it did not affect the characteristic of the relations However, the competition between Russia and China in the relationship development with America, and the competition in the power with each other in recent years have affected remarkably the closeness of the relation (shown in the cooperation in energy, military, and the attitude of China to Russia – Grudia war) 3.1.4 Inadequate relationship with the cooperation potential of two countries Comparing with the Russia – China diplomatic – politic relations, as well as other relation pairs such as America – China, China – Japan, Russia – EU, the economic effects of two countries were quite limited In the 90s of the XX century, the economic relation was stagnated Coming to the XXI century, although the Russia – China economic relations kept growing with the efforts of two countries’ governments, the growth rates were too low The starting point of Russia – China economic relations was late in time and limited in term of conditions comparing with China – America, or Russia – EU Therefore, the economic relationship of two countries in the past years has been limited, inadequate with their great cooperation potential 3.1.5 Russia – China relations was affected by American factor In the development of Russia – China relations, the connection, depth of the relations has changed as time, starting from effects caused by the U.S From 1991 to 1993, Russia – China relations in this period just stopped at normalization level From 1994 to 2000, all cooperative fields were enhanced to be strategic partnership and the pinnacle in this period was remarked by the Sino-Russian GoodNeighborly Friendship and Cooperation Treaty in July 2001 From 2001 to 2004, the warmness of Russia – the U.S relations and the U.S – China relations in this period caused conflicts to Russia – China relations From 2005 to 2008, Russia – China tie was tightened The border problem was solved totally; the cooperation in energy, security, and military was enhanced It is impossible to deny the effects from the ruling of Russia to Russia – China relations in the period of 1992 – 2008 that made this relationship develop as “sin” On the other hand, it's the U.S's governing that promoted Russia – China relations to develop quickly and more comprehensively 3.2 EFFECTS OF RUSSIA – CHINA RELATIONS ON THE REGION AND THE WORLD 3.2.1 Effects on Russia and China *Promoting the economic development 19 The development of Russia – China relations in this period – especially since after 1996 – made a wonderful combination of two countries on the basic of supporting each other to develop To the XXI century, together with movement and development of the relationship between Russia and China, and the economic, energy, weapon contracts, it was the enhancing the strength to develop together The strategic cooperative areas such as energy exploitation, technical science, border area developing continued to affect two countries’ development The completion of border identification not only ensured the benefits of two countries about the peaceful environment for development but also created the conditions for border cooperation between two countries, which brought strategic results, promoting the cooperation of the Russia – China border area, contributing to promote both economies Clearly, the first effectiveness of the relations was to promote the economies of two countries, contributing to enhance the strength and made two countries to be powerful in Asia – Pacific *Enhancing the national position In the transitional period to form a new world order with calculations of powerful countries, enhancing the national position became the strategic mission of large countries including Russia and China The mutual relationship between cooperation and development met the strategic targets of both Russia and China When America did not want such a powerful country as former Soviet, as well as did not want China to be powerful country, Russia – China relations not only was an opportunity for both to become powerful countries but also enhanced the positions of each county to counterbalance with calculations of the US 3.2.2 Effects on the region and the world 3.2.2.1 The duality effects on Asia *Promoting the development and ensuring the regional security Russia – China relations since 1992 has made great effects on promoting the development as well as ensuring the security situation of Asia The origin of Russia – China relations was to create a stable, security environment and make the region develop As being two large countries, Russia and China has had many effects on security in Asia The balance between Russia – China and the U.S – Japan was firstly shown in the strength correlation The balance between Russia – China and the U.S – Japan had a duty to solve the regional problems *Creating the potential conflicts in Asia – Pacific 3.2.2.2 Promoting the trend of multi-polarizing the world 20 Russia – China connection played a role in promoting the multi-pole world trend (the embryo of a new world order formed after the attack into the U.S on September 11, 2001 and from changes of the international economic order; the competition between poles which although were fierce, the competition was balanced between national benefits and the international ones, therefore, it always had certain stopping points; improved relations among large counties) Therefore, when the multi-polar world order officially became true, Russia and China were the countries directly born it, and also were the important owners of that world 3.3 SOME MOVEMENT SCENARIOS OF RUSSIA – CHINA RELATION 3.3.1 Advantages and disadvantages of the Russia – China development 3.3.1.1 Advantages The trend of multi-polar world has created more opportunities for cooperation relations in the world to develop The changes in the region have also brought many advantages for Russia – China relations For Russia and China, having the longest common border in the world, having the same development level and strength, Russia and China have much development potential rather than other relation pairs In addition, both have the same benefits in the international relations and the same competitor – the US as well 3.3.1.2 Challenges The inside shortcomings such as conflicts, competition existing within Russia – China relations could lead to benefit conflicts between them The problems of border, territory, immigrates also contained conflicts, making potential challenges inside Russia – China relations In the current context, the imbalance between Russia and China has been increasing quickly in both economy and military, which makes potential risks, and challenges to Russia – China relations in the future The conflict inside Russia – China relations was due to the scrambling for affecting role in Mid-Asia The strength became the support for the competition of Russia to fight over the controlling rights to resources in Mid-Asia This fact was the origin of the conflict risk about the strategic benefits between Russia and China rights in the region Besides, the strategy of Russia and China to the U.S limited Russia – China relations The outside challenges mainly were the challenges from America They tried to launch the methods to disintegrate the connection of SCO They also increased the actions in Mid-Asia and wanted to break the connection block between Russia and China who wanted to fight against the global suzerain ambition of America At present, America is publicly boosting the construction of National missile defense (NMD) around Russia and China, increasing the challenges to the strategic Russia – China relations The shortcoming, challenges inside Russia – China relations always have twoside effects on this relationship Firstly, it causes certain obstacles to development of the relations On the other hand, it is the decisive factor for the stability of the relations Overcoming the challenges to develop is the best trial to Russia – China relations in the future 21 3.3.2 The moving abilities of Russia – China relations in the XXI century The governments of Russia and China as well as many scholars of the two counties always feel optimistic about the development of their relationship in the future However, European and American researchers have many contrast viewpoints about this problem In general, in the current world, researchers give out main development trends of Russia – China relations in the coming time: The firs trend: the world is still in the transitional period of a new world order, in which America continues to be the most powerful country and still finds ways to maintain their controlling methods to China and Russia Therefore, the cooperation demand of Russia and China will continue to be appreciated In the coming years, Russia and China will maintain the situation of both cooperation and competition The second trend, the “Strategic partnership” between Russia and China will more develop; even they will become an alliance if America uses tough strength to them In that context, Russia and China must eliminate all obstacles in their relationship to move toward the threat from America The third trend, if China exceeds America in both hard strength and soft strength, America will loose their influence on China As a result, China will control Taiwan In other words, when the cooperation demand to control America looses, the strategic Russia – China partnership will be eroded, even become competitors and the relations between two countries will be like Russia – America relations and China – America as today To evaluate a relation, it is necessary to base on objective and subjective factors as well as the interactive environment between them In terms of objective factors (the international environment): although American economy has signals of declining, America actually could not loose their position as the most powerful country Besides, China is still a developing country Russia Federation although has modest position in economic field, they holds the key cards in the XXI century which are energy and water In addition, they have a power making other powerful countries not turn their back on Russia It is the military strength, and nuclear potential Further more, Japan has not escaped from strategic limitations in living space and military strength and India is not powerful with unclear position in the world It means that at present in many next decades, America, China and Russia will be three important countries in the world The mechanism of “Three powerful countries” will continue to exist in the fierce competition among the three ones America does not want to realize the multi-polarization, and not want a China leading the world, therefore the strategy of controlling Russia and China could not be stopped This fact, of course, is the most important objective factor affecting Russia – China relations In terms of subjective factors, from the above situation, both China and Russia highly appreciates the improving, tightening the relations between them, especially emphasizes the tightness and the interdependent relationship in the two countries’ ties 22 If among the objective factors, American factor continues to be the encouragement connecting Russia and China, in the subjective factors, the common benefits will continue to be the catalyst promoting the relations to develop And of course, the interaction between the subjective and objective will be the same denominator deciding the future of two countries Therefore, in many next decades (at least to middle of the XXI century), Russia – China will continue to develop on the current foundation and move toward to first trend Russia and China continue to remove conflicts and challenges to promote their strategic partnership comprehensively But this relationship could have some new characteristics CONCLUSION Russia – China relations have passed many ups and downs: ever being the “strategic alliance”; ever being competitors, and having new development The “Sino – Soviet interdependent alliance” in the first 10 years supported China to rise, helped Soviet to have a strong political partner – enough to make balance in Cold War In next 10 years, the over-superiority of Chinese leaders pushed Sino – Soviet relations to the abyss The lesson for two countries in this period was the political and ideological conflicts caused greater damages to both The ending of the Cold War and the collapse of Soviet became the starting point for a totally new relationship in both model and content Russia – China relations from 1992 to 2008 developed from normalization, to the “constructive partnership” and to the “strategic partnership” The achievements of Russia - China relations in nearly 20 years have been built on the advantageous subjective and objective foundations, especially the same national benefits That foundation made a new and active relation structure in the changing world as today In general, the achievements of Russia – China in 1992 – 2008 were strategic Two countries established and stabilized the structure of the relations with periodic, direct participation of state governing organizations China-Russia Good Neighbor, Friendship, Cooperation Treaty considered the basic for development of two countries – covers all cooperation areas It suits the international law standards and has effect for 20 years Accordingly, the bilateral trade structure of the two countries has been more and more expanded, and the trade quality keeps being enhanced The cooperation in the world keeps being expanded through years In addition, the coordination in actions of solving the regional and international problems has been more and more effective From the historical reality of Russia – China relations in the period of 1992 – 2008, it can be seen that: Firstly, the normalization and development only could happen when both not interfere into internal matters of each other, and respect the choice of the other 23 Secondly, it is necessary to associate benefits of each other in development, to support each other to protect important benefits Thirdly, it is necessary to avoid conflict when the ability of cooperation exists Fourthly, countries need to trust each other at all level Fifthly, it is important to care about the people’s diplomacy to promote cooperation relations It is impossible to doubt the properties, roles of the strategic Russia – China partnership in nearly two past decades At this time, the motto stated by leaders of two countries and becoming the principle in Russia – China relations is “always be friends, never be competitors” The strategic motto of Russian and Chinese leaders now is “Let the everlasting spring be in Russia – China relations, let the friendly flower bunches grow Russia and China will be the strategic partners of each other for ever” Their cooperation was, is and will be one of the main pillars of a new world order However, how Russia – China relations will develop in the future is still a future matter All researches, comments on the future of this relationship have been just the forecast Its exact level depends on unknowns; therefore, this is the problem requiring more researches of scientists in the coming years The development of the strategic Russia – China relations was, is and will have effects on Vietnam because Vietnam is both neighbor of China and has the traditional relationship with Russia First and for most, this relationship creates an advantageous cooperative environment for Vietnam with Russia and China in particular and with the region in general Secondly, Russia – China relations is the relationship between two powerful countries, despite its duplicity and pragmatism, their benefits are associated with each other Therefore, they need each other, consider the attitude of each other and respect each other in dealing the international matters This is good for Vietnam if she takes advantage of the positive aspects, in contrast, it will be disadvantages for Vietnam because powerful countries often not respect benefits of small countries, even they could accept scarification and exchange small countries’ benefits Facing that reality, Vietnam must have “intelligent foreign policy” in order to take advantage of the good aspect of this relationship As Vietnam is a small country, when having relationship with Russia and China, the “adoring the rising sun” is necessary, and being neutral is advisable However, the most important thing is that Vietnam needs to be flexible, both taking advantage and being wise to solve matters with China In the current conditions, when Russia has certain benefits in East Sea, Vietnam should court the intermixed benefits of Russia and China in Southeast Asia to induee Russia to take part in solving the regional matters Therefore, Vietnam could be flexible to apply the “vertical cooperation” and “horizontal cooperation” foreign strategies to cooperate with both Russia and China for development 24 ... PEOPLE''S REPUBLIC OF CHINA RELATIONS (1922 - 2008) 1.1 The overview about Soviet – China relations (1949 - 1991) 1.1.1 Soviet – China alliance relations (1949 - 1959) After the success of Chinese revolution,... CHINA RELATIONS (1992 - 2008) 2.1 THE POLITICAL – DIPLOMACY RELATIONS 2.1.1 The forming and improvement of Russia – China relations (1992 - 2000) 2.1.1.1 The period of 1992 - 1995 From 1992 to... anti-suzerainty, anti-super politics, and not forming competitive political, military and economic alliances” In fact, two countries confirmed their wish to promote the world toward multi-polar