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For months, predictions have been made that a pandemic of the new coronavirus will cause problems in Russian-Chinese relations. As I. Zuenka observes, such predictions are not completely unfounded.
After all, Russia unilaterally closed the country’s border with China due to the virus in late January, one of the first in the world.
Now the situation is backwards. Many new cases of coronavirus are already reaching China from Russia: Beijing itself has controlled the outbreak.
China has a new Wuhan in the north
China’s Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia, has already overtaken Shanghai in terms of confirmed and imported infections, and the new outbreak is in the border city of Suifench. A few kilometers away is Primorsky Krai, Russia.
Suifench is already called “Northern Wuhan” because it is subject to strict quarantine and has the highest concentration of confirmed infections in all of China.
Although Moscow feared this, the virus did not reach the land border from China to Russia in January. Russia closed its border with China on January 30, and only then were the first two infections confirmed in Russia.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Russian-Chinese border in Suifench
Both patients were Chinese citizens, but they recovered quickly and the virus did not spread beyond Russia, especially since many flights between Russian and Chinese cities were suspended on February 1.
Meanwhile, Moscow has not rushed to close its borders with European countries, and now it is said that this is what led to the massive outbreak of the coronavirus in Russia.
The first infections for Russians who returned to the country from Italy were confirmed on March 2, but Russia blocked foreigners from entering the country only on March 18. Flights to and from Europe were canceled only on March 27.
From Asia it closed immediately
This is how the new coronavirus traveled from Europe to Russia in the east, eventually reaching the Far East.
On March 20, three cases were registered in the Khabarovsk region; again, all three people had recently returned from Italy. In early May, more infections had already been confirmed in Russia than in China.
Moscow has not been quick to close its borders with European countries, and now it is said that this is what led to the massive outbreak of coronavirus in Russia.
According to I. Zuenka, Russia was in no hurry to restrict communication with Europe, so most of the country’s society actually takes a rather Western approach.
“It just came to our attention then. Although the rhetoric is patriotic and anti-western, many members of the elite are closely associated with Europe and North America. Even the eastern shift announced by Moscow in 2014 did not change anything,” writes the analyst.
Under mounting pressure from the crisis, Russia tried to stay in touch with Europe until the last minute, although it closed immediately after Asia and without further explanation.
Scanpix / ITAR-TASS photo / Queues at the Russian-Chinese border
And when the crisis in Russia was already more intimidating than the situation in China, the Chinese living in Russia began to flow to their homes, precisely through the Far East of Russia. Almost 400 confirmed coronavirus infections soon accumulated in Suifench.
Chinese authorities searched everyone who passed through Vladivostok. All of them were also found in a mandatory 28-day quarantine, and on April 7, the Chinese closed the Suifench border crossing. Six days later, China closed the entire border with Russia.
There are no manifestations of xenophobia.
So what can such a carousel of unilateral decisions mean for Sino-Russian relations? According to I.Zuenko, nothing terrible will happen.
China is said to be closing in on Russia because of the old rhetoric emanating from Washington. Furthermore, oil prices continue to rise, making Russia increasingly dependent on consumption in China.
Reuters / Scanpix Photo / Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping
“Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are also said to be trying to talk to themselves as soon as the coherence of bilateral relations is threatened,” the observer said, noting that the two presidents had been in direct contact three times since January 31 .
Perhaps the only reason for the problems was that China refused to transfer the genetic code of the new coronavirus to Russia in early February; it was possible to start developing the vaccine earlier.
“It just came to our attention then. Also, you can’t see xenophobia in the border area, neither in terms of Chinese in Russia nor in terms of Russians in China,” says I. Zuenka.
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