Moscow, on the other hand, has no interest in serving as a junior partner to Beijing and seeks to expand its freedom of strategic maneuver, as evidenced by its outreach to Iran, North Korea, and India, among others. Both capitals fear being drawn into an alignment that could threaten their independent decisionmaking or entrap them in a war that they have no interest in fighting. In fact, such fears contributed to the Sino-Soviet split during the Cold War.
Finally, despite their pronouncement of a “no limits” partnership, mistrust and rivalry run deep in the Sino-Russian relationship. The two states have a long history of conflict, thin cultural and people-to-people ties, and overlapping spheres of influence in Asia, Africa, and the Arctic—all of which limit the depth of their alignment. These tensions could drive them apart over the medium to long term, as they have in earlier iterations of partnership between Beijing and Moscow.