After spending the day observing a round table discussion at the United Kingdom's Royal United Services Institute, one comment from a certain contributor (Director of Studies at RUSI) stuck with me:
He began with explaining how nowadays, the government and media seems to heap both Russia and China together, making them out to be allies, and a single threat to the United States. He then asked those listening to think of the manner in which Americans think of Chinese politics, calling it "schizophrenic", implying that there are many voices in our heads constantly guessing at what is going on in Beijing. In reality, however, we truly do not have a politically transparent relationship with China by any means. He compared this exact relationship to the way in which Russia looks at China, completely undermining the common view that Moscow and Beijing are on the same page.
This is a tad controversial, and I am sure it will spark a response from a fellow contributor. However, it is a bit comforting to know that our friends in Moscow have no idea what the Chinese are doing, either.
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