China is Forgetting its History with Russia

"For the past month, it was an onslaught of news and photos of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in meetings with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, China and then at the 80 th anniversary military parade in Beijing celebrating the end of World War II and then press reports of the first joint submarine patrol between the Russian navy and China's PLA navy."

"Mr. Putin must be pleased with the attention Mr. Xi was providing to him personally, and to a Russian Federation that invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a sovereign nation that had security assurances in 1994 from Russia. Indeed, Mr. Putin must be pleased with the international attention he's getting, despite the devastation he's inflicting on Ukraine and the tens of thousands of casualties on both sides due to Russia's invasion and Putin's refusal to seek a halt to these hostilities."

"Certainly, students and others in China must be aware of China's contemporary relations with Russia (Soviet Union) and relations dating back to the 19 th century. Are the textbooks informing students of the 42 divisions - over one million troops -- the Soviet Union deployed on China's border in 1969, with indications that Moscow was considering a nuclear strike on Chinese nuclear facilities?"

Xi Jinping has been publicly aligning with Vladimir Putin through high-profile meetings, ceremonies, and reported naval cooperation, amplifying visibility for Russia amid its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. That invasion produced massive casualties and continued hostilities despite diplomatic outreach seeking a halt. The rapprochement appears historically ironic given past Sino-Soviet tensions, including a 1969 mobilization of over 42 divisions, clashes on the Ussuri River, and indications Moscow considered strikes on Chinese nuclear sites. Russia also remains the only power that has not returned Chinese territory ceded during 19th-century unequal treaties and the Qing era.

Read at The Cipher Brief