Photo: IC

Signs of Western interference can be seen in the street protests in both Hong Kong and Moscow this summer. Vitriolic words on placards, the street politics and signs of a foreign hand remind one of the "color revolutions" that had brought about dramatic changes in several nations in Europe. When Western countries meddle with the internal affairs of nations in the eastern hemisphere, political cooperation among nations such as China and Russia becomes significant.

Using governance issues within the scope of internal affairs as an excuse, the Western countries are creating chaos and exporting ideology by virtue of the dominance of Western countries in discourse power.

US government officials' meetings with Hong Kong politicians and activists who incited riots were filmed and exposed, but Washington called it a violation of privacy by "a thuggish regime." When Moscow police arrested protesters who participated in an unsanctioned rally, Western media criticized the Russian government for stifling these citizens' right to freedom of political expression. 

Although Chinese and Russian officials, media and academia have criticized their intervention, Western countries reject these voices. It is likely that these countries will seize any opportunity to meddle with the internal affairs of China and Russia in the future, threatening their political security.

China and Russia have maintained close ties and have constantly stepped up cooperation since entering the new century. One of the main reasons is that both powers have been taken on by the West and need to support each other.

Although there are some changes in China-Russia-US trilateral ties, the way in which Beijing and Moscow together deal with Washington will not change in the short run.

In the era of great changes in international politics, the US, as the sole superpower, is not willing to lose its dominance of international politics. As a result, it has stepped up its suppression of rising powers. This is what China and Russia are suffering. It's fair to say the US pressure on the two countries will continue to rise. US discrepancies with China and Russia are structural and cannot be reconciled.

Second, the West has been increasingly viewing what is happening in the non-Western world in an ideological way. Although the majority of problems that China and Russia are confronting are just countercurrents in the course of development and nation-building, the discourse of the West is full of superiority complex.

China's notion of governing Hong Kong and Russia's ideas of political development won't appear in Western mainstream media, while what the Western public sees is filtered and processed by the elites.

Confrontation in world politics is mounting and the Western countries still grasp international discourse hegemony. In this context, China, Russia and other non-Western countries should strengthen cooperation in politics and security, maintain domestic stability and political safety and take the initiative in the media and academic circles. 

When Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Russia in June 2019, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to elevate bilateral ties to the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era. The current external challenges both countries are facing indicate the significance of China-Russia relations. The two countries share common stances and principles based on common experiences and backgrounds. They can easily understand how the West is piling pressure on them. This provides a strategic support to each other when coping with external threats. 

The political and security pressure China and Russia are facing also contribute to the importance of their ties. International academia has increasingly realized the importance of diversity of international politics. Different from the political views of China and Russia, which underline diversity, the political logic of the Western countries has remained the same over nearly 30 years, still considering their ideology and social system universally and denying the particularity of non-Western countries. Therefore, deepening China-Russia ties can safeguard both countries to independently choose their developing paths.

The meaning of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era is broad. It is of overall significance for the two countries to maintain stability and independently choose their development path. 

The author is a post-doctorate researcher from the Centre for Russian Studies, East China Normal University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn