Strategic Partnership or Alliance? Sino-Russian Relations from a Constructivist Perspective

In this article I analyze the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation from a constructivist perspective. By employing Wendt’s concepts and structures of identity to understand relations between China and Russia, and their relations with other countries, I seek to elucidate the drivers of the current China-Russia partnership and shed light on the reasons why, despite burgeoning ties, the two countries have not established a formal alliance. I argue that both China and Russia are in the process of reconstructing their national identities while also integrating into the international community. There exists an ideational foundation for the China-Russia strategic partnership, but divergent concepts of harmony and honor make China and Russia act differently when interacting with a third party in the international community. I argue that China and Russia are still on the way to forming a shared concept of strategic partnership. Beijing and Moscow are not likely to set an alliance arrangement against a third party in the foreseeable future.