Valdai Club

China’s role as the initiator of restrictive measures is becoming increasingly visible. China generally prefers to impose sanctions informally, thus avoiding open confrontation, writes Valdai Club expert Anastasia Pyatachkova. However, the political component of the sanctions in China is almost not being retouched, and the measures themselves, from unofficial and time-limited, are gradually becoming systemic and open.

China is still rethinking its role on the world arena, and the answer to the question of what role it assigns itself has not yet been found. That is why the theory of the “Chinese threat” is so effective, as it reflects more the fear of the unknown and presumed destruction of the values ​​of the neo-liberal order, than the real ability of the PRC to turn relations with its partners into an analogue of a traditional 'tributary system'.

The current model of Russia–Vietnam relations can be described as transitional, moving from the exclusive partnership of the 1980s to the next meaningful phase. Today, bilateral relations are dominated by the traditional spheres and vectors inherited from the Cold War period.