After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia finally realized the value of the Far East, began to adjust its strategic direction, and constantly released signals to attract Chinese investment in the development of the Far East.
In Putin's words, Russia has set aside four places for China to develop
At Russian President Putin's annual press conference a few days ago, Putin pointed out that the level of cooperation between Russia and China is unprecedented. Russian diplomat Zakharov believes that Putin regards the development of Sino-Russian relations as a priority direction.
Putin's words have further enhanced Sino-Russian cooperation. According to a recent report by the Satellite News Agency, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev visited Beijing and held talks with the Chinese side, during which the two sides talked about the development of the Russian Far East and the Baikal region.
Trutnev said that the Chinese side supports the proposal to create a border crossing on the Great Ussuri Island, has sent the project proposal to President Putin, and if Putin supports this decision, then we will start construction. Great Ussuri Island, also known as the Black Blind Island, was once owned by China in history, and in 2004 China and Russia drew a boundary and the Black Blind Island was divided into two. Due to the island's high economic value in the region of the corridor where Northeast China meets the Russian Far East, it is expected that 37 billion rubles will be invested if it is invested.
Secondly, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister hoped that China would invest in the development of the Kuril Islands, and the Chinese side expressed interest. Russia is ready to make the Kuril Islands a unique zone for development. It is worth noting that Japan insists that the South Kuril Islands are its sovereign territory, but Russia considers them legal lands occupied in World War II. Russia had previously signed an agreement with Japan on the joint economic development of the Kuril Islands, hoping to attract Japanese investment, but now, with tensions between Russia and Japan, Russia has begun to throw olive branches to China.
Trutnev noted that in the Far East, China is Russia's largest foreign partner, and we will also develop tourism infrastructure, which has already begun on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, near Lake Baikal, Kamchatka and many other regions. In order to develop tourism and attract foreign tourists, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin demanded the construction of the "Thousand Roads" project in the Far East.
At one time, Russia took out Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the vicinity of Lake Baikal, and the Far East of Kamchatka to attract Chinese investment and development. In fact, China is the only country that can help Russia develop the Far East, and China's strong infrastructure technology and sufficient funds can turn the Far East into a mega-development zone!
Whether it is lack of money or helplessness, who can understand Russia's two major difficulties
The vast and sparsely populated Far East is rich in oil, gas, forests, coal and minerals, but it is located at a high latitude and has a cold climate all year round, which is not suitable for human habitation. Although Russia has invested money and manpower in the development of the Far East, due to geographical, historical, climatic, and demographic factors, Russia has never been able to tap this cornucopia. Now, Russia's large-scale opening of the Far East to China may have two unavoidable grievances.
First, Russia itself is in decline, and its development capabilities are weak. Russia's economy is biased towards the military industry, while light industry and other manufacturing industries have always been weak, and its infrastructure capacity is even worse than that of China and the United States. To develop the Far East, it is necessary to invest huge amounts of money and material resources, and it is difficult to sustain Russia's current national strength. Especially under the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia needs funds even more. If it wants to develop the Far East, Russia certainly has to find a trustworthy partner, and China is undoubtedly a good partner that can be trusted.
Second, Russia needs China to reduce strategic pressure. Handing over the Far East, including the Kuril Islands, to China for development is a helpless choice. At the moment, the United States and Europe are besieging Russia with all their strength from the European direction, and Russia is focusing most of its energy on the European direction, which causes the Far East to weaken. Russia fears that the United States and Japan will launch an attack from the South Kuril Islands and then break into the Far East, forming a situation of east-west attack. In this case, Russia has to seek the support of China, and only China can resist the offensive of the United States and Japan and avoid Russia falling into a two-front war. Inviting China to develop the Far East is undoubtedly Russia's best choice to reduce strategic pressure.
Russia must completely let down its guard, and China faces two challenges in developing the Far East
1. Due to historical factors, the Outer Northeast was once China's homeland, and Russia has always maintained strategic vigilance and does not want China to get involved. Now, due to the strategic situation, Russia is opening up the Far East to China, but if it wants China to promote the development of the Far East, Russia must fully trust China and let down its guard.
2. China has the infrastructure capacity and capital, but if it wants to develop the Far East, it still has to face two challenges. First, whether investing in the Far East will give more economic value. Second, whether Russia will wait until the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war to ease relations with the United States and Europe and change its strategy.
The development of the Far East cannot be accomplished overnight, it is facing challenges, which require mutual trust and unity between China and Russia, and cannot turn their faces because of changes in the geopolitical situation!