Russia’s weakening position in Asia is giving China growing leverage over Moscow, with the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine accelerating a shift that could leave parts of Russia’s Far East increasingly dependent on Beijing, an analyst told TVP World. Reuben F. Johnson, Director of the Asia Research Center at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, said on TVP World’s “Eastern Express” program that Russian fears over Chinese influence in the Far East go back more than 30 years. But he argued that the war in Ukraine has sped up the trend by draining Moscow’s resources and making Russia more reliant on Chinese money, markets and technology. A senior partner, not an ally “This is not the profile of a country that’s a partner with Russia,” Johnson said. “These are not friends, you know, without boundaries. This is a marriage of convenience for the Chinese.” Since Western sanctions cut Russia off from many suppliers, Moscow has turned increasingly to China for electronics, technology and industrial inputs. Analysts have also pointed to a widening trade asymmetry: Russia mainly sells China energy and raw materials, while importing higher‑value machinery, vehicles and electronics. Far from Moscow Johnson said the Russian Far East has long had a separate political and economic logic. In the 1990s, he noted, Chinese traders and investors became more visible in border regions, buying distressed factories, farms and other assets as Russia’s own population declined. He pointed to Komsomolsk‑on‑Amur, a major industrial city near the Chinese border, where Chinese workers recently protested over unpaid wages at a refinery project involving a Russian‑Chinese contractor. The case, he suggested, showed how local labor tensions, Chinese business interests and weak federal authority can overlap in strategically sensitive regions. The shift is also visible in defense ties. In the 1990s, Beijing depended heavily on Russian know‑how for aircraft, engines and missiles. Today, Johnson said, “where China was once the junior partner, they’re now the senior partner in the relationship.” For many Russians far from the capital, he added, the issue is survival rather than ideology. “Moscow isn’t doing anything to help us,” Johnson said, describing local attitudes. “We’re having to survive on our own.”
Since Western sanctions cut Russia off from many suppliers, Moscow has turned increasingly to China.
