The visit of the
Russian President Vladimir Putin to China is seen as a landmark event in terms
of changing the vector of Russia's development towards Asia. State Duma deputy
Mikhail Emelyanov explained in an interview with Pravda.Ru why the United States
tried to prevent Russia's initiative to move closer to China and how the States
"accidentally" accelerated this process.
"Today, Russia and China
actively discuss opportunities to build the new Silk Road, Vladimir Putin is
expected to pay a visit to China, during a variety of vital questions will be
discussed, including the issues of gas supplies to China. What do you think are
the prospects of relations between Russia and China? Is there a danger of such
an association for the U.S.?"
"The United States had been trying to put
obstacles of the way of Russian-Chinese cooperation. There was this G2 formula
during George Bush's presidency.
It was about two great states that will
rule the world. That is what they offered to China. The United States and China
were to become the two great nations. But the Chinese are farsighted, they
declined the offer.
"The United States and its allies actively worked
against Russia and the Russian elite, fanning up the idea about the alleged
Chinese threat to our eastern borders, thereby trying to alienate Russia from
China.
"Without understanding our interests in the West, not knowing our
interests in Ukraine, they broke the balance of power in Eastern Europe, trying
to bring openly pro-Western politicians to the throne in Ukraine, they, of
course, push Russia straight into the arms of China, making it a very fast
process. After all, the cooperation between Russia and China has been developing
by leaps and bounds recently.
"We very quickly resolve our gas problems,
our oil problems and many more. We will work closely in the field of armaments.
Naturally, there is a continental block appearing, if you like, although
President Putin said that we do not seek military- political alliance with
China. But the statement itself is indicative."
"Is cooperation in this
field possible?"
"Very often, if politicians even mention this
possibility, it says that it is possible. Even in denial. If this question was
not on the political agenda, perhaps one would neither ask nor answer it. But
there is such an option. If we take Iran into account, we will have a very
interesting geopolitical combination. In Russian classical geopolitics, this is
land power against maritime powers. This is not the best scenario for the world.
But again, we were not the attacker. They are trying to drag Ukraine into the
Western bloc. Following this, following the association with the EU, they would
drag it into NATO. In the long run, all Eastern European countries have
experienced this classic combination. Accordingly, Russia had no choice, and our
political leadership made the right decision."
"Can Russia compensate
China's huge demand that it gets from the United States - a huge sales market?
Is it possible for the United States and China to estrange themselves?"
"The United States has not raised a question of sanctions against China
yet. This is a matter of remote future. If the Americans go the way of expanding
sanctions, they will take the world to World War III. Therefore, they do not
touch China and they hardly ever will. The Americans are afraid of China. This
can be seen from their low-key response to China's actions in the Pacific
theater of political action, in the case of the Senkaku Islands, for example.
They just dumped the Japanese and told them that they would not be protecting
them, in spite of the agreement between Japan and the United States.
"The
U.S. is very cautious when it comes to China; and Russia, too. I think that the
States will take effort to blow up Russia from the inside. John Tefft is
supposedly coming to us as an ambassador - this is very revealing. He was in
Lithuania, he was in Georgia, he was in Ukraine, by the way, as an ambassador.
He arranged all these orange, white ribbon and other revolutions. I think that
the United States will stake on the work with the so-called civil society in
Russia. They will try to play on our internal contradictions and take people to
the streets."