Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine goes far beyond Javelins, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (i.e., HIMARS), and Russia’s campaign of destruction against the second-most-industrialized post-Soviet state.
Shock waves from the war now wash across the shores of maritime Asia, with years of unfolding impacts ahead. Accordingly, this article takes readers through a journey featuring ecosystems inhabited by oil barrels, gas pipelines, submarine technologies, jet engines, and basing access. It also will explore China and Russia’s centuries-old relationship cycle of fear, temporary bonds of common cause, and division anew. In coming months and years, China will tap the Russian raw material storehouse more deeply.
But a Moscow under duress and isolation could yield far more than cheaper oil and gas; Russian military pinnacle technologies—particularly in the undersea-warfare realm—could be coupled with China’s financial resources and industry to tip the Indo-Pacific security balance in favor of a Sino-Russian axis of autocracy at the expense of the United States and its allies and partners.
Recommended Citation:
Erickson, Andrew S. and Collins, Gabriel B. (2022) “Putin’s Ukraine Invasion: Turbocharging Sino-Russian Collaboration in Energy, Maritime Security, and Beyond?,” Naval War College Review: Vol. 75: No. 4, Article
8. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol75/iss4/8
Frequently asked questions
How has the Ukraine war affected China-Russia cooperation?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is pushing Moscow and Beijing closer in energy and maritime security. Gabriel Collins and Andrew Erickson argue that China will tap Russia’s raw material storehouse more deeply, while an isolated Moscow under duress could also offer military technologies, especially in undersea warfare, alongside oil, gas pipelines, jet engines, and basing access.
What Russian military technology could help China most?
Undersea-warfare technology is the area of greatest concern in the Collins and Erickson analysis. They describe Russian submarine technologies as military pinnacle technologies that, coupled with China’s financial resources and industrial base, could tip the Indo-Pacific security balance in favor of a Sino-Russian axis at the expense of the United States and its allies.
Will the China-Russia partnership last?
The authors do not treat the partnership as permanent. They describe a centuries-old relationship cycle between China and Russia of fear, temporary bonds of common cause, and division anew. For now, the war gives Beijing reason to draw more deeply on Russian raw materials, and its effects are expected to unfold over years.
Why does the Ukraine war matter for security in Asia?
The war’s shock waves now reach maritime Asia, according to Collins and Erickson, with years of unfolding impacts ahead. Beyond cheaper Russian oil and gas for China, the authors warn that Russian undersea-warfare know-how combined with Chinese money and industry could shift the Indo-Pacific security balance against the United States, its allies, and partners.
Where was the Erickson and Collins article on Sino-Russian collaboration published?
The full article by Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins appeared in the Naval War College Review in 2022, Volume 75, Number 4, as Article 8. The text is available through the U.S. Naval War College digital commons, and the Collins Research Portal page presents its summary and recommended citation.
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