RUSSIAN-CHINESE STRATEGIC COOPERATION : THE MIGRATION PROBLEM IN PERSPECTIVE

This article examines the emerging strategic cooperation between Russia and China in the post-Cold War era, placing this partnership in the perspective of the complex issue of Chinese migration into the Russian Far East. It analyzes the broader geopolitical drivers of the Sino-Russian rapprochement, which was based on a shared desire to counterbalance US dominance in the international system. The study then delves into a specific and often-overlooked source of potential friction in the relationship: the large-scale, often-unregulated migration of Chinese citizens into the sparsely populated regions of Siberia and the Russian Far East. The research explores the demographic and security concerns that this migration was generating within Russia, and the potential for it to become a major irritant in the bilateral relationship. The paper argues that while the top-level strategic partnership was strong, this grassroots-level issue of migration represented a significant long-term challenge that needed to be managed carefully. The analysis concludes that the ability to effectively manage such complex bilateral issues would be a key test of the durability of the new Sino-Russian strategic partnership.

The rapprochement between Russia and China was one of the most significant geopolitical developments of the post-Cold War era, leading to the formation of a "strategic partnership." This paper analyzes this partnership through the unique and revealing lens of the cross-border migration problem. The first part of the study outlines the high-level strategic logic of the partnership. It details how Moscow and Beijing, both feeling pressured by US unipolarity, found common cause in advocating for a multipolar world order. This cooperation was manifest in their coordination at the UN Security Council and in the burgeoning arms trade between the two countries. The core of the article, however, shifts the focus from the grand strategic to the local and demographic. It provides an in-depth analysis of the issue of Chinese migration into the Russian Far East. For Russia, this migration raised deep-seated anxieties about demographic change, the loss of sovereign control over its vast eastern territories, and the potential for the creation of a "Chinatown" on its soil. The paper explores how these concerns were being voiced by regional governors and nationalist politicians in Russia, creating a potential source of tension with Beijing. The findings suggest that the Sino-Russian relationship was a complex, multi-layered phenomenon. While the two states were strategic partners at the global level, they also had to manage significant and potentially divisive issues at the bilateral and local levels. The paper concludes that the migration problem was a key litmus test for the relationship, one that required sophisticated and sensitive management to prevent it from undermining the broader strategic alignment.