Speaking of Yeltsin, What comes to some young people's minds may be the "old man" dancing in public when he is drunk, or the picture of a "victory gesture" drawn.
But in the hearts of some Russians, he is a “sinful man,” and some of his decisions have led to the loss of national wealth and increased social fragmentation.
But in the hearts of many domestic netizens, Yeltsin is an "old friend". Not only did it return a large area of China's territory, but it also greatly promoted military cooperation with China and sold some important military weapons at the most delicate moment in Sino-Russian relations.
Some say that without Yeltsin, our today's 052D destroyer, "Chinese Shield" and J-16, may be a decade later.
Many people don’t understand that Yeltsin’s “friendliness” did not come from a momentary impulse, but in a stormy era, in the seamless Russian strategic choice, He chose the East, a calm and reliable country, wisely.
In 1996, the issue of the Hassan border was finally resolved, and Russia initially assigned a part of the region to China's northeastern map, which seemed to be unseen land, but was a century-long dispute on the Chinese-Russian border.
In those years, China-Russia through several rounds of negotiations, delineated the boundaries, dissolved part of the controversy, Yeltsin appeared to draw a successful sentence for his term of office, as well as to open a new chapter for China-Russia relations.
If you think it’s just a small diplomatic operation, you don’t understand the symbolic meaning of “boundaries” in national politics.
History, national sentiments, resource interests and even military strength are involved behind the confirmation of every piece of land. Yeltsin’s move is both a direct view of historical issues and a respect for China’s sincerity.
In 1993, the negotiation on the border between Hunchun and Siberia was actually the "turning point" of the negotiation of the whole territory. This land has been in a "fuzzy zone" for nearly a hundred years due to loopholes in the treaty signed with Tsarist Russia during the Qing Dynasty.
The Chinese delegation has prepared thick historical archives, maps, treaty texts, and almost all of them are documentation and documentation.
In dealing with the border dispute, Yeltsin took a pragmatic stance and agreed to return part of the land, which deepened the economic cooperation between China and Russia.
In 1991, Russia returned 9 square kilometers of disputed land in Siberia near China, a history that is now only a line in many textbooks. But in the archive room of the Foreign Ministry of that year, there was a secret record of negotiations, a preparation of information overnight, and a build-up of trust between the great powers.
To put it bluntly, after Yeltsin became the first president in Russian history, he inherited a country riddled with holes. Inflation once reached 2600%, the ruble devalued like a piece of paper whose bones had been drained, and the entire country fell into anarchy. The army was out of control, the economy collapsed, and the people were in turmoil.
He had sent hope to the West, hoping that the United States would fulfill the billions of dollars of aid promised at the time, and hoping that Europe would keep its promise of non-expansion.
As a result, the United States pushed three blocks, Europe was indifferent, NATO's eastward expansion was in full swing, and the three Baltic countries quickly fell to the west. At that moment, Yeltsin finally understood: The West only used his tool to dismantle the Soviet Union and never really accepted Russia.
The word "betrayal" became a painful experience early in his political career, when China in the East was rising at a steady pace.
After the reform and opening up, China's industrial base has been increasingly improved, foreign capital has poured in, and economic growth has been stable and orderly. Yeltsin saw that China is not an enemy, but a hope. He made a historic decision: turn east and shake hands with China.It is not only reflected in the return of territory, but also in a far-reaching military cooperation.
At the end of 1992, Yeltsin visited China. China and Russia signed an agreement to promote cooperation in aviation, aerospace, energy and other fields. Russia sold some of the Soviet Union's core weapons and technologies to China.
China quickly established the "934 Project" to specifically absorb Russian technological achievements and carry out localization improvements. Those technologies became the mother of destroyers such as 956E and 052B.
In the Air Force, Russia sold the Su-27 to China, which also provided a great contribution to the development of our air force.
I would like to ask, if Yeltsin hadn't been willing to let go, trust China and brave great pressure from the West to transfer technology, would our military strength be what it is now?
Of course, between countries, interests are the basis of relations. Russia itself is also seeking to break through. Arms exports are an important way to maintain the economy. But in the global political environment at the time, daring to open the door to China’s military core still requires great courage and strategic vision.
Yeltsin's "pro-China" is not a superficial article, but a deep cooperation based on political awareness and strategic prediction. He was the man who stood up from the ruins of the Soviet Union, the political strongman who turned around and embraced the East amid Western rejection.
His repeated acts of returning territories not only fixed historical cracks, but also laid a solid foundation for China-Russia's later border trade cooperation, energy projects, and joint military exercises.
Those technology transfers have saved the Chinese army ten years or even decades of detours.Despite his continued domestic controversy and even his sickness of economic policy, he is, in the eyes of many Russian netizens, the “old friend” who reaches out when we need it the most.
History doesn't remember everyone, but it will remember the key people,Yeltsin, not the greatest politician, has left a clear trail in Chinese history.
At present, China-Russia relations are rock-solid. In the face of power, we can also bravely fight back. Do you have any different views on this?
References:
China mourns Yeltsin's death and praises him as the "founder of China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination" April 25, 2007 17:26 Source: Xinhuanet Hao Yalin
Yeltsin's Chinese Relationship.2007-04-25.
Yeltsin and China's special fate.[ 2007-04-23 23:48 ].