ABSTRACT
The re la t ionship be tween these t w o vast empires astr ide the Euras ian hea r t l and has been t r o u b l e d for centuries, despite cer ta in superf ic ia l s i m i lar i t ies i n size a n d pol i t ica l -economic structure. The M o n g o l G o l d e n H o r d e successfully i n v a d e d Russia i n the th i r t een th century, b u r n i n g M o s c o w a n d t a k i n g Kiev, a n d they c o n t i n u e d to ru le sou thern Russia a n d ex tor t t r ibu te for the next t w o h u n d r e d years, l e av ing an h i s to r ica l legacy of dread. Russia w o u l d l ag Ch ina d e v e l o p m e n t a l l y for the next several centuries, w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n that d i d no t reach 13 m i l l i o n u n t i l 1725 (com pared to China ' s b r i l l i a n t c i v i l i z a t i o n a n d ca. 150 m i l l i o n people) , a n d the first v i s i to rs to Bei j ing i n the m o d e r n era (beg inn ing i n the m i d - seventeenth cen tury) were ob l i ged to prostrate themselves [koutou] before the Q i n g emperor. Yet the decline of the M a n c h u D y n a s t y co inc ided w i t h Russian i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n f o l l o w i n g the defeat of N a p o l e o n , and Russian appetites for t rade and t e r r i t o r i a l expans ion l ed to increasing i m f r i n g e - m e n t o n i m p e r i a l Ch ina . The Russian imper i a l i s t strategy was tha t of a "free r ide r" : Russian forces t y p i c a l l y pressed the i r c la ims o n l y w h e n C h i n a was p reoccup ied b y more u rgen t threats. Thus i n 1854-59, w h i l e Ch ina was engu l fed b y the Ta ip ing Rebel l ion (1851-1864), General N . N . M u - r a w j e w a n d 20,000 t roops occupied the del ta a n d n o r t h shore of the A m u r / H e i l o n g River and the m a r i t i m e provinces w i t h o u t f i r i n g a shot. D u r i n g the second O p i u m War Russian forces made fur ther oppor tun i s t i c
This chapter is a revised and updated version of "The Sino-Russian Strategic Partner ship," Journal of Contemporary China, 10:28 (2001): 399-413. Reprinted w i t h permission of Taylor and Francis, Ltd . (https://www.tandf.co.uk/journals).
