The pandemic has only strengthened Sino-Russian relations. The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, which turned into a pandemic, led to a crisis of socio-economic development in most countries of the world.
The majority of respondents in Russia and China believe that the pandemic will not affect the future development of Sino-Russian relations. Photo: the Majority of respondents in Russia and China believe that the pandemic will not affect the future development of Chinese-Russian relations. Photo: the Majority of respondents in Russia and China believe that the pandemic will not affect the future development of Chinese-Russian relations. Inter-state relations are undergoing complex changes that threaten a crisis. China and Russia were no exception – they also suffered. However, the world’s two largest neighboring powers have maintained their positions and overall stability. Sino-Russian relations have withstood the test of the pandemic, demonstrating a strong socio-political Foundation.
The best evidence was the results of the latest public opinion poll conducted in China and Russia. According to its results, 93.1 percent of Chinese respondents give a positive or neutral (not negative) assessment of Russians, and a similar indicator for Russian respondents – 82.6 percent.
These results were achieved thanks to a significant increase in the level of bilateral relations and their sustainable and pragmatic development. Good-neighborly and friendly interaction between the countries in recent years would not have been possible without the personal efforts of the heads of both countries and political mutual trust between the parties.
At the same time, in terms of economic relations, the integration of national development strategies of China and Russia has led to mutual benefits.in particular, it is worth noting that the population of both countries has benefited from overcoming the $ 100 billion mark in bilateral trade. From Siberia, China receives environmentally friendly energy sources, and Russians got acquainted with Chinese goods, thanks to Alibaba Group, Huawei’s 5G technologies, and others. China and Russia are opening up to each other, developing bilateral tourism, and exchanging experience in the cultural and humanitarian spheres.
In particular, the parties work closely together and support each other in the common fight against the COVID‑19 pandemic. By showing their will, China and Russia are jointly overcoming the difficult challenges of the year. All this allowed the majority of respondents in both China and Russia to positively assess the relations between our countries. This demonstrates that these relations are based on a solid social base, and gives a powerful impetus to the further consistent development of Chinese-Russian cooperation.
In China, 91.9 percent of respondents positively assess the prospects of Sino-Russian relations
The coronavirus pandemic is a serious test for Chinese-Russian relations, which not only survived it, but also confirmed the high level of strategic cooperation. It is worth noting that the President, foreign Minister and other senior Russian officials and experts rightly rejected Washington’s statements aimed at attacking China. This was also reflected in the results of the survey. When asked what the reaction is to the fact that some Western countries, led by the United States, are trying to undermine the reputation of China in the course of countering the coronavirus pandemic, more than 90 percent of Chinese respondents and more than two-thirds of Russian participants expressed a sharply negative assessment.
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The majority of respondents in both countries believe that the pandemic will not affect the future development of Chinese-Russian relations. The Chinese are very optimistic about this – 91.9 percent of respondents view the prospects for Sino-Russian relations in General positively. The share of those who clearly believe that the pandemic will have a positive impact on the development of Chinese-Russian relations was 75.6 percent. More than half of Russian respondents (53.3 percent) clearly believe that the pandemic will have a positive impact on the prospects of Chinese-Russian relations, 45.1 percent view the prospects neutrally, and 8.2 percent believe that the pandemic will not have any impact, and another 16.1 percent of Russian respondents believe that the pandemic will have a negative impact on relations.
It’s safe to say that Sino-Russian anti-cooperation, anti-common processes and strategic interaction of the parties in the protection of the best course and justice of the international order will become the driving force to increase the level and accelerate the pace of development of bilateral relations.
Anti-epidemic work has accelerated the reconfiguration of forces and poles in the international arena, and has exacerbated the problems of the Western world order. The situation is favorable for achieving a balance of major international forces. In favor of the fairness of the position of China and Russia on the protection of the international order, the conference of foreign Ministers of the G-7 countries practically withdrew from the initiative and attempts of the United States to “spoil” China’s reputation and shift responsibility for the pandemic to it, as well as the fact that the leaders of Germany and France stressed the importance of international cooperation in countering the pandemic. This clearly shows that many us allies no longer intend to act on their instructions. We can confidently predict that after the end of the pandemic, the development of Chinese-Russian relations will rise again.
Over the past 70 years, Chinese-Russian interstate relations have experienced serious tests of time, and a great deal of experience has been accumulated, which in the new era has become an invaluable treasure and the basis for the consistent development of strategic cooperation in all areas. Today, Sino-Russian relations are at the best level in the history of development. Sincere and trusting interstate cooperation and truly friendly relations between the heads of state are the focus of the world’s attention and have earned the recognition of a number of partner countries.
The results of the survey also show that the Chinese and Russian peoples have become more rational and objective about their bilateral relations. In particular, young Russians perceive China and its population more deeply and more closely than older people. This shows that the assessment of young people has been less affected by the burden of the past, which makes it easier and more active for them to notice the positive aspects of China and its people.
How to make the basis of bilateral relations more solid after the final overcoming of the pandemic is still a long-term and difficult task for the development of cooperation between China and Russia. The media play a very important role in bringing the peoples of the two countries closer together. Our countries face the urgent task of forming a system that covers various methods of resolving problems and is aimed at promoting social diplomacy. It is necessary to constantly deepen mutual understanding between our peoples in such areas as culture, education, politics and economy, etc.
