New CNAS Report Analyzes Deepening China-Russia Partnership in East Asia

Washington, September 26, 2024 – Today, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) released a new report, The China-Russia Entente in East Asia: Contending with Authoritarian Partnership in a Critical Region, authored by Jacob Stokes, with contributions from Evan Wright, and Nathaniel Schochet. The report explores the increasingly consequential partnership between China and Russia and its impact in East Asia.

The report argues that military, economic, and geopolitical cooperation between China and Russia continues to deepen despite—and, in some ways, because of—Moscow'’s war in Ukraine. This trend has major implications for the critical East Asia region, including, as the authors argue, in key East Asian geographic “hotspots,” further exacerbating regional diplomatic and security challenges for the United States and its allies.

To contend with deepening China-Russia partnership in East Asia, the report recommends that U.S. and allied policymakers:

• Structure policies around the reality that Russia is no longer a geopolitical balancer in East Asia;

• Identify and track metrics for the China-Russia partnership, including factors bringing them together and areas of tension;

• Strengthen coalitions to counter the China-Russia entente in East Asia;

• Expand discussions on extended deterrence and contingency planning to account for China-Russia collaboration;

• Deepen security, diplomatic, and economic ties with nonaligned and loosely aligned countries in East Asia so they have alternatives to Russia and China; and

• Conduct principled diplomacy with Beijing and seek to keep lines of communication with Moscow open but keep expectations in check and allies informed.

The report concludes with a warning: as Moscow’s power declines relative to Beijing’s, Russia will likely become more subordinate to China in East Asia. The United States and its allies and partners must closely monitor this entente and work to strengthen regional stability through coalition -building and strategic planning.

For more information or to arrange an interview with the report authors, please contact Alexa Whaley at [email protected].