Tech-Tonic Shift in Sino-Russian Cooperation — Nivedita Kapoor

Russia-China engagement in the military-technical field has ‘strategic importance’ for both parties, with bilateral cooperation on the upswing since 2010. This has gained momentum in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, with Russia shedding its earlier reluctance to sell latest technology to China, signing deals for supply of Su-35 fighter jets and the S-400 missile defence system. The two sides are also engaged in joint projects, and Russia has agreed to help China develop its ballistic missile early-warning system. In fact, the latter development has been interpreted as a sign of increasing closeness between the two countries, which while not an alliance, does signal deepening engagement.

Another traditional area of cooperation has been space, where in 2019 the two countries declared their intention to jointly build an International Scientific Lunar Station. The two sides have agreed to cooperate in peaceful use of GLONASS and BeiDou navigation, in order to promote interoperability of the two systems. Several scientific projects are ongoing, which has been supplemented by a common position on issues like the US-led Artemis Accords that seeks to build principles for space exploration and potential utilisation of resources. Russia and China have opposed the agreement, labelling the move as creating a ‘US-led space order’ that also brings in private players.

Apart from these traditional bilateral engagements, Russia-China cooperation has now expanded to include Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, 5G, robotics, digital economy, biotechnology, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). These form a particular focus of the ongoing Year of Russian-Chinese Scientific, Technical and Innovation Cooperation....