As the 2022 winter Olympics kicked off last Friday in Beijing, a high-profile meeting took place on the sidelines between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Following their meeting, Putin and Xi released a joint statement emphasizing their shared grievances with respect to the U.S.-led world order, condemning NATO enlargement as well as alleged attempts by outside forces to interfere in their internal affairs. Despite this show of solidarity, however, tensions remain in the relationship between Moscow and Beijing. Alexander Gabuev and David Shullman join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to help us make sense of this development.

Alexander Gabuev is a senior fellow and the Chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. His research is focused on Russia’s policy toward East and Southeast Asia, political and ideological trends in China, and China’s relations with its neighbors.

David Shullman is Senior Director of the Global China Hub at the Atlantic Council, where he leads the council’s work on China. David’s research focuses on China’s foreign policy and grand strategy, U.S.-China relations, China-Russia relations, and the implications of China’s rise for global order and the future of democracy.