Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

How to evaluate the strength of a major power? To see its attitude toward its opponents. In his press briefing on Wednesday, US State Department Spokesman Ned Price referred to China-Russia relationship as a "burgeoning" one, which is "of concern" because the vision they have for the international order is "starkly at odds to the liberal vision" and "with the underpinnings of the international system that have been in place for some eight decades following the end of the Second World War."

The US concerns toward China and Russia are also reflected in the latest massive coverage in the Western media about China sending troops to Russia to participate in the "Vostok" exercises, and the hype of the so-called threat from the two countries.

A thief crying "stop thief." The US' concerns about the China-Russia relationship are the product of US' own strategic anxiety. Washington worries that the US-centered international order established after WWII would collapse, and the coordination between China and Russia in the security realm could offset US' influence in the international order the US has long dominated.

US' strategic anxiety stems from the fact that the US is declining, said Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies. "The US maintains its strategic competition posture with China and Russia simultaneously in the directions of Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific. Under such circumstances, if China and Russia get closer, it will affect US' deployment of resources in the two directions and hinder its efforts to dominate regional order. But US' current strength does not allow it to focus on both," said Zhang.

The mismatch of US' strength and its mentality of viewing itself as the world's No.1 is the root cause of the existing division and chaos of the world. Zhang held the view that the crux of the problem is not what China and Russia have done or not done, but whether the US and the West can overcome their fears and anxiety about their own decline.

From the perspective of the international order, the US is the most prominent representative of hegemonism, while China and Russia are actually defending the international order, fairness and justice. Cui Heng, an assistant researcher at the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University, believes that the strategic cooperation between China and Russia injects positive momentum into the international community. 

"When the US-led NATO bombed Yugoslavia more than 20 years ago, no force could restrain the hegemony of the US. Can the US still do this today? Obviously not. At the regional level, the coordination between China and Russia is a constructive force. Taking Afghanistan as an example. The US left a mess, but in the end it is China, Russia and other neighboring countries that are helping clean up the mess," said Cui, adding that those who twist China-Russia relations reflect their wretched purposes, short-sightedness as well as failure to understand that the continuous strengthening of this bilateral relationship serves for world peace and stability.

Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal that "we are at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, without any concept of how this is going to end or what it's supposed to lead to." Sadly, even though Kissinger's advice serves for US interests, the mainstream elites in the US who have slipped into the abyss of American political correctness won't heed such advice. If the US goes its own way to become enemies with China and Russia, it is isolating itself in the world.