Fragmented cooperation: The role of state-owned and private companies in Sino-Russian energy collaboration

Kaczmarski, M. (2023) Fragmented cooperation: The role of state-owned and private companies in Sino-Russian energy collaboration. Asian Perspective, 47(3), pp. 393-413. (doi: 10.1353/apr.2023.a905231)

Abstract

Observers tend to interpret the contemporary Sino-Russian relationship in terms of strategic, purposeful cooperation driven by national interests and power-political considerations. The search for power and security, as well as balancing against the United States, have increasingly been pushing China and Russia closer together. The energy realm offers a distinct picture of the Sino-Russian relationship. The pace of cooperation has varied and depended on key domestic players in particular sectors. As a consequence, success stories have been accompanied by major setbacks. Energy cooperation encompasses both a meteoric rise of oil cooperation and the muddling through of gas cooperation. The foundations for close ties in the energy realm were laid well before the post-Crimean acceleration of Sino-Russian cooperation. More often than not, however, parochial interests of dominant state-owned and private enterprises rather than strategic considerations have driven this cooperation. Looking through the prism of energy cooperation, I emphasize the complexity of Russia and China as actors in international politics instead of approaching them as rational and unitary players.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kaczmarski, Dr Marcin
• Authors: Kaczmarski, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Central and East European Studies
• Journal Name: Asian Perspective
• ISSN: 0258-9184
• ISSN (Online): 2288-2871
• Published Online: 28 August 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright: © 2023 Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University
• First Published: First published in Asian Perspective 47(3): 393-413
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy