Well, to start with, Russia and China are cooperating on ballistic missile defenses and conducting joint strategic bomber flights into other countries’ air space.
google.com/amp/s/www.wash…
google.com/amp/s/www.wash…
The problem is that most Russian officials don’t believe this, which is why they’re conducting joint strategic bomber flights with China and not the US.
Most articles that argue there will be a Sino-Russian break point to Central Asia, Russia’s Far East, and trade imbalance as unacceptable problems for Moscow. But Russia has been aware of those issues for years and they keep moving closer to China. That should tell us something.
1. Russian officials decided in 2012-2014 to go head with arms sales to China even with this risk
2. China’s reverse-engineered systems aren’t as good as the Russian weapons they copy
3. By the time weapons are reverse engineered and widely procured, they aren’t top-of-the-line.
2. China’s reverse-engineered systems aren’t as good as the Russian weapons they copy
3. By the time weapons are reverse engineered and widely procured, they aren’t top-of-the-line.
China was also the first foreign customer of Russia's current best fighter, the Su-35, and air defense system, the S-400.
I don't know if a break will happen at some point, but it is obvious that Russia and China both see the US as their bigger threat, which minimizes any bilateral concerns. Attempting to limit Russia's embrace of China is a useful policy goal, but pulling them away isn't realistic.
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