Pouring scorn on China-Russia engagement foolish

Since the value of Ruble has slumped, the Sino-Russia relationship has been targeted. According to a Chinese commentator, the currency swap agreement worth 150 billion yuan ($24.4 billion), signed between the central banks of both sides in October, is tantamount to "directly offering money to Russia." The claim has been widely spread, leaving an impression that China is being dragged down by Russia.

However, some economists refuted the argument. The currency swap agreement is not like handing over money, rather it regulates the total currency exchange between the two sides. Only when real transactions are processed, a debtor-creditor relationship will be formed based on real-time exchange rate.

The economic commentator made a simple mistake, but drew a certain number of followers. Although mainstream Chinese society has reached a consensus over the importance of developing the China-Russia comprehensive strategic collaborative partnership, there is still opposition against Sino-Russian proximity, mainly from pro-Western forces, who look down upon Russia, and a few who are ignorant of international politics.

It is silly if Chinese society scorn the Beijing-Moscow engagement. Facing heightened pressure from the US, China and Russia are very precious strategic partners to each other. There are also absurd propositions suggesting that the China-US friendship should replace China-Russia ties. If the China-Russia relationship collapses, the US will only become tougher on China. A good but unallied China-Russia relationship in fact plays an important role in stabilizing relations between Beijing and Washington.

China won't be on the losing side in the China-Russia bilateral relation. The reason why the two countries have moved closer is because they can mutually benefit from the proximity. It's a hysterical bias to claim that China is wooing Putin at the cost of its own interests.

Russia suffers the heaviest loss from the devaluation of the ruble, as it directly deals a heavy blow to the Russian economy. From the global perspective, China has benefited more from the tripartite relations than the Western countries, in which Russia and the West are locked into a standoff while Beijing and Moscow have further advanced cooperation.

The ruble slump will bog down the China-Russian economic cooperation in the short-term, disturbing bilateral trade. It is important that China respects Russia, never fishing in Russia's troubled waters. When either of the two countries faces a grave crisis, it means the bilateral partnership is facing a test. Russia and Putin are far from a dead end. Few Westerners are confident that they can crush Russia. Those who want to urge China to take advantage of the Russian crisis are throwing away the bilateral partnership.