Chinese president, Xi Jinping, joined the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic games in Sochi, Russia, last week.  However, President Obama did not attend because of the current relations between the U.S and Russia. The collapse of Soviet Union was a symbol of America’s success, but this doesn’t mean Russia wants to adopt the ways of globalization. In this case, Russia and America still differ.

As long as Russia does not destroy its nuclear weapons, America will not embrace Russia. This Olympics is also a chance for Obama to show his political stand. Russian president Vladimir Putin desires to lead Russia back into the realm of global powers, and the Sochi Olympics has been symbolic of his ambition.

However, it does not matter for China, which maintains tremendous economic common interests with America. This ultimately means that China and the U.S. must continue business with one another. China must also expand its political influence to Middle Asia and the Middle East, which can be a kind of supporting of China’s rise to being a global power. Russia, for instance, has been beneficial in helping China achieve its goals. The Sochi Olympics gives Chinese president Xi Jinping an opportunity to show China’s attitude to Russia. With the absence of America’s president, the British prime minister and other western countries’ leaders, Jinping’s attendance has shown Russia a ton of respect and support. Chinese people call it “Dao yi,” which is defined as some situation where money and military aid cannot gain political support; rather, using friendly and kind behavior to others is shown. Combing money, military, and dao yi, China has implemented its new diplomatic strategy since Jingping became the new president. Russia definitely needs China’s support because it doesn’t have America’s support, and shares common interests with China.  

Beyond Jingping’s joining this Winter Olympics, China wants to first, deepen cooperation with Russian in East Turkestan terrorist issues, which can affect China’s domestic stability if not solved well. Second, China has implemented its Silk Road Economic Zone in Central Asia, and should continue to deepen cooperation with Russia in order to make this policy more functional. Third, China and Russia have inter-dependent interests in Central Asia. Russia wants to regain control this region, and China wants to have more political and economic influence on this region. Both sides ultimately need one another to accomplish their goals.

In fact, China and Russia share a common adversary in America. The two countries recently agreed to conduct a joint naval drill in the Mediterranean Sea in middle of January. Unlike America and Japan, China and Russia will not be allies, but will nevertheless be closer than before. Jingping has met Putin five times within one year, which is a total number of times China’s former president, Mr. Hu, had in ten years.