Russia turning into China's resource colony, intelligence says
Photo: Russia is becoming China's resource base (Getty Images)
Russia has recently been turning into a resource base for China, while local communities are increasingly being left out of the promised benefits, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU).
Russia is becoming increasingly economically dependent on China. Raw material projects in the Far East and Siberia are turning the region into a resource base for Beijing, while local communities are increasingly being left out of the promised benefits," the intelligence service said.
One key example is the Zashulanskoye coal deposit in Transbaikalia. It is being developed by a joint venture between Oleg Deripaska's Russian En+ Group and China's Shenhua Group.
Production is expected to last for 100 years, and the Russian government has granted the company tax breaks. Starting in 2027, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of coal to China annually — about 500 trucks per day.
To this end, a new road is being built, which will pass just 200 meters from rural gardens, 1.6 km from the Yamovka mineral water spring, and through forests with rare plant species. Despite promises, residents did not get jobs: key positions are occupied by Chinese specialists.
Meanwhile, the company is cutting down cedar forests, and attempts to move the road further away from the protected area are being hampered by bureaucracy.
Dependence on China is also evident in tourism. The Irkutsk region is actively developing routes for Chinese visitors, businessmen from Beijing are buying up land and building hotels on the shores of Lake Baikal, displacing local entrepreneurs and increasingly openly calling the lake theirs. According to estimates, up to 2 million Chinese citizens already live in the Far East.
"Thus, even the symbol of Russia’s natural wealth, Lake Baikal, is gradually becoming part of China’s economic interests, underscoring to what extent Moscow has lost control over its own resource-rich regions," the FISU emphasizes.
China's position on Russia's war against Ukraine
China officially declares a supposedly neutral position in the war between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, Beijing maintains active cooperation with Moscow, and a number of Chinese companies supply dual-use goods to Russia that can be used, in particular, for the production of weapons.
Earlier, The Economist stated that China had become the main supplier for Russia's military machine. It is believed that Beijing may have transferred lethal weapons to Moscow.
At the same time, it became known today that the summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump was one of the most productive in recent years. For the first time, it opened up the possibility of Beijing's real involvement in resolving Russia's war against Ukraine.
