What visit of Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to China sets

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OPINION

By Joshua Kingdom

Franked by senior officials, including his two deputies and several ministers, the Prime Minister of Russia, Mikhail Mishustin, visited the People’s Republic of China (PRC) between November 3 & 4 to attend this year’s China-Russia regular meeting.

Having gone on annually since 1996, the consistency of this practice is significant enough on a bilateral level to merit its own deep dive, but for this occasion, we will delve into its implications for the present global tides.

It is not controversial at all to posit that the west is troubled by the China-Russia alliance.

In fact, President Trump openly vowed to do everything he could to break the bond as early as during his 2024 presidential campaign.

Many more political commentators have gone on to marshal intellectual resources towards the cause, including the Centre for Naval Analyses and Domestic Challenges, which has suggested counting on India’s relationship with the two countries as the thing that will wedge a war between them.

When the reality on the ground continues to act against these wishes, therefore, the US could not be more displeased.

The bone in the meat of the solidarity that continues to flourish between the PRC and the Russian Federation (RF), as exemplified by the recent high-level delegation event, lies in the joint communique that the premiers of either state appended their signatures to on Tuesday.

Its terms make clear, for instance, the fact that the signatories will work together to oppose “unilateral coercive” measures placed on any of them. This is a big deal considering that we are looking at two world economic giants.

Further, it is noteworthy that the communique is not an ambiguous statement, as is common to see in instances where political players find themselves having to say something even when they really do not want to.

In this case, however, China is explicit about what they are bringing to the table, as is Russia. The former thus committed to supporting its counterpart’s territorial integrity, while the latter country expressed its full support for the one-China principle.

If there were any doubts left, President Xi could not have cleared the air in a better way when he later met with the visiting statesman in saying that cooperation was of mutual benefit.

The breadth of the results that the Hangzhou deliberations between the representatives of the Communist Party of China and those of RF gave off is equally something to watch with raised eyebrows for anyone in Washington, as it shows the degree of seriousness with which Beijing and Moscow are taking their partnership.

The fields of agreed collaboration include; agriculture, improving navigation compatibility, humanitarian cooperation, academic exchanges, streamlining customs-related activities, finance, etc.

This will then only add to the progress that close ties over the years have yielded. China is already the biggest oil purchaser of Russian Oil, for example.

Another point on this continuum regards the long-term and ambitious nature of the projects Russia and China have agreed to pursue.

Take the roadmap towards establishing an international body to monitor developments in artificial intelligence that was given the timeline of 2026-2030.

Given that it is much more difficult to walk away from something to which one has invested vast sums of money, endeavours like this are only poised to create more and more room for the superpowers to work together.

With all that said, though, the biggest message that the regular meeting sent may very well be best understood if viewed in the light of the unprecedented comradely that has sprung up between China and Russia this year, even for nations that have had strong ties going back several decades.

Already, the heads of state of each country have visited the other in their homeland, making it three consecutive years that the tradition has been going on. President Xi graced the Victory of the Great Patriotic War celebrations in the Red Square back in May, before President Putin returned the courtesy during China’s commemoration of seventy-six years of World War II triumph over Japan four months later.

Couple that with remarks such as the object to jointly elect a nuclear plant on the moon, also announced in early 2025, and you see what I am getting at.

When on October 31^st the Russian spokesman told local media that his country viewed the trip that PM Mishustin was slated to embark on in a few days as a “very important” one hence, he meant every sentence of the words he uttered. And no one understood him better than those who have long borne the consequences of similar efforts in the past.

The writer is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre