Widgets for Webmasters
By Dmitry Shlapentokh Like his predecessor Vladimir Putin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev followed his taking over the Kremlin, in May, with a visit to China. For some pundits this raised the specter of a Chinese-Russian alliance as a threat to the West. This is not the case. The Russian - both elite and popular - approach to China is often guarded. And as with all flirtation with Chinese and Asian powers, Russia continues to be West-oriented. My recent visit to Russia confirmed this. My arrival coincided with Medvedev's landing in China. Russian TV carried his speech in which he proclaimed that Russia and China were strategic partners, despite the fact that "someone" might be upset with this. The warm atmosphere was underscored by images of Medvedev surrounded by excited Chinese students, some of whom spoke good Russian.... [read full story]
