Latest news with #Sino-Russian
India.com
14-05-2025
- Science
- India.com
These two nations join hands up to build a nuclear power plant on the moon; not US, UK, France, India, Japan, they are...
(Representational Image/AI-generated) In a major development that could once again trigger a new space race between major world powers, China and Russia have teamed up to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon. According to reports, the revolutionary project, which is expected to be completed by 2036, will power International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), another major undertaking led by the two allies. The announcement comes at a time when US space agency NASA has called for cancellation of its planned orbital station on the Moon in its 2026 budget proposal, while its Artemis program– which aims to send American astronauts back to the moon after nearly five decades– is facing challenges due to delays and budget cuts. Sino-Russian lunar nuclear power plant to power ILRS As per reports, China and Russia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a permanent human base on the lunar south pole, and build a nuclear power plant that will power the base and the ILRS– a revolutionary project designed for scientific research and long-term unmanned operations, including the possibility of future human presence on the Moon. Yury Borisov, General Director of Russian space agency Roscosmos, said the nuclear plant will be built 'without human presence', hinting at advanced robots carrying out the construction on the lunar surface. Borisov did not provide any details on the technology required for such an endeavor but said the pre-requisites are 'almost ready'. As per details, the construction of the lunar nuclear plant is scheduled to begin between 2030 and 2035, and expected to completed by 2036. The foundation stone for the ILRS will be laid in 2028 with China's Chang'e-8 mission, its first manned mission to the Moon. What is the ILRS mission, and why its a gamechanger? The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), is an ambitious project jointly led by China and Russia, which aims to establish a permanent human-controlled base on the moon's south pole for conducting scientific research. First announced by Moscow and Beijing in June 2021, it now includes as a many as 17 other countries, including Pakistan, Egypt, Venezuela, Thailand and South Africa. The ILRS will be constructed using materials shipped via five super heavy-lift rocket launches from 2030 to 2035, and the station is planned to be expanded by 2050 to include an orbital space station, two nodes on the moon's equator and its far side. The ambitious lunar research station will be powered by solar, radioisotope and nuclear generators, and will feature high-speed communication networks on the Moon-Earth and lunar surface, lunar vehicles and manned rovers. The ILRS aims to provide a major technological footing for humans on the moon for research, long-term unmanned operations, and also aims to serve as a base for manned missions to Mars. China's rapidly expanding space program Notably, China has rapidly developed its space program over the las decade, landing its first lunar rover in the 2013 Chang'e-3 mission. Since then, Beijing has sent several rovers to the moon and Mars, collecting samples from the near and far sides of the moon and mapping the lunar surface. China's Chang'e-8 mission aims to land Chinese astronauts on the moon by 2030, as Beijing looks to cement its place as the undisputed global leader in space research and missions, replacing its rival, the United States.
Hindustan Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Xi Jinping has Vladimir Putin over a barrel
As President Xi Jinping stood shoulder to shoulder with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, watching Russian and Chinese soldiers marching across Red Square on May 9th, they could have been mistaken for equals. The commemorations of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in the second world war painted a picture of the two Eurasian neighbours locking arms against the West and the international order that followed that victory. Mr Putin boasted that their strategic co-operation was built on the 'unshakeable principle of equality'. China's president praised their 'everlasting' friendship. Mr Xi first attended such a parade in 2015, just after Russia's annexation of Crimea and its first incursion in Ukraine. That first visit was a clear sign of Russia's pivot towards Asia. The two men have long seen each other as comrades-in-arms against American dominance, and the two have co-ordinated policy closely since Donald Trump began his second term. Parading their friendship in Red Square was meant to show that Mr Trump's idea of splitting Russia from China is futile. But its futility is less because Mr Trump faces a strong alliance against him than because of Russia's utter dependence on China. Indeed Russia is more dependent on China now than at any time in its history. Nowhere is that clearer than in the cities along the two countries' 4,300km-long border. Manzhouli is a Chinese town bursting with symbols of Sino-Russian amity. Statues of a Chinese panda and a Russian white bear hold hands on the high street. Bustling restaurants serve Russian staples like vodka, borscht and black bread. Blonde Russian dancers in traditional dress cajole Chinese patrons to twirl with them. The town has enjoyed a trade boom in recent years. Chinese-made equipment is piled ready to be shipped over the border. Trucks and trains are stacked with timber and coal that have come the other way. Total trade between the two countries increased by 66% from 2021 to 2024, to $245bn. Russia supplies oil, gas and other energy exports accounting for 80% of everything Russia sends to China. In return it gets Chinese ready-made consumer goods, cars and technology. Many are 'dual-use' goods like machine tools and semiconductors, which can have military as well as civilian uses. These have helped prop up the Russian war machine. But the shipments matter far more to Russia than to China. While China accounted for 34% of Russia's total trade in 2024, Russia made up just 4% of China's. Western sanctions have left Russia with few alternative buyers for its raw materials, and no real alternative supplier for all the imported goods it needs. Dependencies in the other direction are diminishing. Russia is still China's biggest foreign supplier of weapons. But these days China can make most of what it needs itself. Its total weapons imports fell by 64% from 2020 to 2024 compared with the previous five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think-tank. All this gives China a lot of leverage. Since the war began it has snapped up lots of Russian oil at a discount. Since 2019 a pipeline called the 'Power of Siberia' has delivered Russian gas at low prices into north-eastern China. But Russian requests to build a second pipeline further west are on hold because Chinese officials think they can force Russia to sell its gas more cheaply. China also wants to diversify its energy imports. There are only 'limited' prospects for Russian commodity exports to China to continue to grow, wrote Filip Rudnik of merics, a think-tank in Berlin, in a recent article. In March some Chinese state-owned firms reportedly curbed Russian oil imports for fear of American sanctions being tightened. Sanctions have also pushed Russia to cut its reliance on the dollar. In 2023 the Chinese yuan overtook the dollar to become the most popular currency traded on the Moscow Exchange, the country's largest. Last year Russia's central bank said it had no real alternative to the yuan to use for its reserves. Most of Russian trade with China is now settled in the currency. This makes its reserves vulnerable to losses if relations with China worsen. Colonial? Moi? While China is happy to buy up Russian commodities and dump its own consumer goods there, its investment in its neighbour remains low, and it has little interest in helping Russia modernise or diversify its economy. Cumulative direct Chinese investments in Russia in 2024 reached just $18bn—equivalent to 1% of Russia's gdp and barely twice as much as China has invested in Kazakhstan, a much smaller economy. Trade with the eu, by contrast, accounted for 37% of all Russian trade before Mr Putin's pivot towards China. Energy exports made up just 62% of what Russia shipped to the eu. And before the war the eu was Russia's largest investor. In 2019 its foreign direct-investment stock amounted to €311bn ($346bn), while Russia's fdi stock in the eu was €136bn. As Re-Russia, a Vienna-based analysis firm, notes 'the model of China's economic interaction with Russia looks much more colonial than the Russian-European partnership before the war.' At the same time, China maintains some diplomatic distance. Both Mr Putin and Mr Xi enjoy railing against 'hegemonism' (read: America). And China wants to keep Mr Putin in power and his war economy afloat. But it would rather not encourage Mr Putin to engage in more militarist adventures, says Alexander Gabuev, of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, another think-tank in Berlin. For China, Russia's invasion of Ukraine is like 'a barbarian king has launched a war against his little barbarian brother,' he says. One sign of China's caution can be seen at the un general assembly, where it has abstained in most votes on the war. China is also trying to cosy up to Europe. In April it dropped sanctions on several eu parliamentarians, in place since 2021 as a result of the eu's own sanctions on Chinese officials over human-rights abuses. One way Russia could reduce reliance on China is by improving its relationship with America, where the Trump administration has been more friendly than its predecessor, says Sergey Radchenko of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Rather than having no partners at all, 'Putin could say, 'We have options',' he says. But China is keen to keep Russia where it is. As Mr Xi wrote in an article in the Russian media on May 7th, 'Together we must foil all schemes to disrupt or undermine our bonds of amity and trust.' Mr Putin's war and the extent of China's influence make any Russian turn to the West unlikely. The economic imbalance between Russia and China contrasts sharply with Russia's sense of its own importance. Many Russians still see China like a younger brother. According to a recent poll, twice as many (56%) believe their country has greater influence in the world than those who think that China has (27%). China is still seen as Russia's friend, but the number of people who feel the relationship is improving has fallen from 63% to 50% over the past two years. In Manzhouli, the ironies of the increasingly unequal relationship are glaring. The town was founded by Russia in 1901, after it forced a decaying imperial China to allow access to the region's resources. For much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was the 'elder brother' of its socialist neighbour. Now local Chinese increasingly regard Russians with pity. The brotherly relationship 'has been reversed', says one shopkeeper. The younger brother has pulled ahead. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Economic Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Every arms exporter loves a good war
On Friday, we saw a familiar bromance in action - Vladimir Putin leading Russia's Victory Day commemorations, with Xi Jinping joining him for the parade in Red Square. This display of Sino-Russian bonhomie - despite sanctions against Russia for launching the Ukraine war, and the ongoing US-China trade war - was telling for one more reason: China provides weaponry to Pakistan, while Russia sells their heavy stuff to India. Ergo, India and Pakistan are fighting each other, while the two Tony Starks laugh their way to the the past few decades, the global market for conventional arms has become increasingly export-oriented as new buyers and sellers emerge against the backdrop of rising global defence spending. Traditional exporters like the US, Russia and France are increasingly relying on arms exports to balance their trade with the world. Meanwhile, energy-surplus nations such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Ukraine are driving demand from the buyers' side. New arms-exporting countries like South Korea, Israel and Turkey are leveraging shifting geopolitical alignments to strengthen their market position. Major buyers like India and Pakistan are changing their procurement strategies. New Delhi is focusing on indigenisation and reducing its reliance on Russia, while Islamabad has shifted shop to China. Neither Russia nor China needs defence exports to balance trade. Russia has immense energy exports, while China boasts an enormous manufacturing trade surplus. But both face pushback from European and US consumers, creating an opportunity for export-driven arms trend is increasingly concerning as conflicts worldwide evolve to involve non-state actors and tech-driven warfare. Rising supply of inexpensive smart weapons contributes to the risks of escalation. Unmanned combat often hides the true cost of conflict, while vulnerabilities grow for interconnected infra, where both state and non-state actors can launch cyberattacks. Anti-globalisation is driving a perverse globalisation of the arms trade. Rise in conflict is, perhaps, an unintended consequence.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Every arms exporter loves a good war
On Friday, we saw a familiar bromance in action - Vladimir Putin leading Russia's Victory Day commemorations, with Xi Jinping joining him for the parade in Red Square. This display of Sino-Russian bonhomie - despite sanctions against Russia for launching the Ukraine war, and the ongoing US-China trade war - was telling for one more reason: China provides weaponry to Pakistan, while Russia sells their heavy stuff to India. Ergo, India and Pakistan are fighting each other, while the two Tony Starks laugh their way to the the past few decades, the global market for conventional arms has become increasingly export-oriented as new buyers and sellers emerge against the backdrop of rising global defence spending. Traditional exporters like the US, Russia and France are increasingly relying on arms exports to balance their trade with the world. Meanwhile, energy-surplus nations such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Ukraine are driving demand from the buyers' side. New arms-exporting countries like South Korea, Israel and Turkey are leveraging shifting geopolitical alignments to strengthen their market position. Major buyers like India and Pakistan are changing their procurement strategies. New Delhi is focusing on indigenisation and reducing its reliance on Russia, while Islamabad has shifted shop to China. Neither Russia nor China needs defence exports to balance trade. Russia has immense energy exports, while China boasts an enormous manufacturing trade surplus. But both face pushback from European and US consumers, creating an opportunity for export-driven arms trend is increasingly concerning as conflicts worldwide evolve to involve non-state actors and tech-driven warfare. Rising supply of inexpensive smart weapons contributes to the risks of escalation. Unmanned combat often hides the true cost of conflict, while vulnerabilities grow for interconnected infra, where both state and non-state actors can launch cyberattacks. Anti-globalisation is driving a perverse globalisation of the arms trade. Rise in conflict is, perhaps, an unintended consequence.
Leaders
04-05-2025
- Business
- Leaders
China's Xi Heads to Moscow for Victory Day Amid Global Tensions
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia between 7-10 May, joining Vladimir Putin to mark the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. The Kremlin announced on Sunday, highlighting deepening Sino-Russian collaboration amid global uncertainties. However, the visit occurs as U.S.-China tensions escalate over 145% U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing's 125% retaliatory duties. Simultaneously, Putin ordered a three-day Ukraine ceasefire, aligning with Russia's Victory Day on 9 May —a move Kyiv dismissed as symbolic. Strengthening Military and Economic Bonds Moscow and Beijing declared a 'no limits partnership' before Russia's Ukraine offensive in 2022. Since then, trade and military ties have surged, unsettling Western allies. Bilateral talks will focus on expanding strategic cooperation and addressing regional security challenges. Moreover, Ukraine's President Zelensky recently accused China of supplying arms to Russia and harboring 155 Chinese fighters. Beijing denied involvement, calling such claims 'irresponsible,' while maintaining its neutral stance on the conflict. China emphasized its WWII sacrifices alongside Russia, framing their partnership as vital for combating modern threats. Both nations pledged to oppose unilateralism, bolster multilateral platforms like BRICS, and reshape global governance. Xi will attend Moscow's 9 May military parade, joined by Russia's allies. The Kremlin's comparison of Ukraine's war to WWII remains contentious. Analysts question if historical parallels mask geopolitical ambitions. Global South Solidarity: A Shared Vision Beijing and Moscow aim to unite Global South nations, advocating multipolarity and inclusive globalization. Their alliance challenges Western dominance, reflecting a shifting world order where economic and military blocs redefine power dynamics. Xi's visit underscores China's balancing act: deepening ties with Russia while navigating U.S. pressure. As trade wars rage and alliances evolve, the Sino-Russian partnership emerges as a cornerstone of 21st-century geopolitics. Short link : Post Views: 9
