For several years now, Russia and China, with very different methods, have been testing their strengths in areas each considers to be in its legitimate arc of influence.Russia’s approach is more raw, focusing on military muscle and energy supplies. China’s is more nuanced, deploying its economic strength and legendary patience, while assertively probing neighbours in the East and South China seas and experimenting with the will of its biggest rival, Japan.Western democracies, meanwhile, have been consumed by recession, the Arab uprisings in the Middle East and, in the past year, the Russian threat to Europe’s eastern frontier in Ukraine.Although it …read more
Source: AsiaOne
