A very influential and well-known Russian media personality believes that the Chinese Communist Party is the main threat to Russia. The only way to deal with it is for Russia to ally itself with the United States. Similar views reflect the true thinking of many in Russia’s elite and powerful class. But the latest polls show that Russian society still has a favorable view of China and does not see Russia and the United States getting closer.
Only the U.S. Can Help Russia and the U.S. Join Forces Against Communist China
Bozniel, a well-known Russian media personality, said that the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing global hegemony and wants to become the world leader, and he does not trust it and is very worried about the Chinese Communist threat. He believes that for Russia, the only way to fight the CCP is to ally with the United States, which is the only ally of Russia in this regard.
Speaking on an evening talk show on Echo of Moscow radio, a major liberal media outlet, Pozniel stressed on March 25 that the Putin administration, in its push to get closer to China, does not seem to realize the seriousness of the CCP threat and has no sense of crisis; perhaps the CCP threat is not yet looming, but the Russian leadership should be a little smarter than the United States. He believes that the Kremlin leadership will realize the urgency of the Chinese Communist threat only when it is imminent, though it may already be too late.
Pozniel, 87, has been a household name since Soviet times. He has worked as a current affairs commentator since joining the Soviet media in the 1960s, but his most prominent job was hosting programs on English-language radio, which was then the Soviet Union’s foreign propaganda. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he continued to be active in the Russian media, holding the position of director of the Russian Television Academy, where he was responsible for organizing and awarding the major prizes in the Russian television media. He currently hosts a talk show on the largest Russian state-run TV channel, TV 1.
Pozniel was born in the United States and grew up in New York as a child and teenager. After the rise of McCarthyism in the United States in the 1950s, when many left-wing members of the cultural community were investigated, Pozniel’s father moved his Family back to the Soviet Union for fear of being exposed.
Pozniel’s rich experience has given him great influence in Russian Culture, media and other fields. He is frequently interviewed by various media outlets, and the talk shows he has appeared on have received high ratings and listeners.
Influential statements are representative
Some critics of Putin say that Pozniel, although he presents himself as a pro-Western liberal, has close ties to the official hierarchy and is much better at explaining today’s Russia under Putin and some of the Kremlin’s actions in a way and language that is acceptable to the West, and is therefore much appreciated and used.
Although Russia currently has close relations with China, the Perception that the Chinese Communist Party is the main threat to Russia is often voiced. Among the elite power elite, those who hold this view are spread across the various camps that criticize and support Putin. Pozniel’s remarks are very representative of some of Russia’s elite power elite.
It is no secret that many people consider the Communist Party of China to be the main threat to Russia, said Demshkin, a prominent activist with a Russian nationalist stance. He said Russia shares a border with China, and the aggressiveness of the Communist Party is felt more locally, especially in the Far East.
Demshkin: “Russian society is now very concerned about the massive deforestation and then export of timber to China, which is exported as round wood and not as a processed product. In some urban neighborhoods, Chinese run businesses occupy the roads and do not allow local Russians to enter. In places such as Blagoveshchensk (Hailanbul), there are Chinese restaurants that serve only Chinese people. Some local markets in the Far East are also uniformly controlled by the Chinese, and the list of similar examples could go on and on.”
Polls still show China as the main friendly country
Still, polls show that most Russians still have a favorable view of China, while considering it a friendly country. A poll by Russia’s leading pollster, the unofficial Levada Center, last September said that 40 percent of respondents saw China as a friendly country. China ranks second after Belarus in the list of friendly countries in Russia, even ahead of Russia’s traditional allies Kazakhstan and Armenia.
The poll shows that Russian society still views the United States as the least friendly country, with the percentage of people holding this view reaching 60 percent, although this figure is the lowest in six years. The percentage of people who consider the United States to be the least friendly country is now on a downward trend.
A joint poll conducted by the Levada Center and the Chicago Council on International Affairs in March showed that most Russians are not worried about the threat of getting closer to China. Fifty-six percent believe that getting closer to China does not mean that Russia will become more dependent on China. Fifty-five percent believe that getting closer to China will improve Russia’s international standing. Only 28 percent believe that getting closer to China could make Russia more dependent on China.
The poll says that most Russians are also positive about the future of Russian-Chinese relations: 57% believe that the two countries will become closer in the next 10 years, while 32% believe that relations will continue to be as close as they are today. Only 5 percent believe that the two countries may go their separate ways in the future.
More than one-third support joining the U.S. against China
On relations with the U.S., the poll says 37 percent believe Russia should join forces with the U.S. against China. Eighty-two percent advocate that Russia should cooperate with the United States in the fight against the Epidemic. In the area of fighting the epidemic, the largest number of people clearly advocate cooperation between the two countries.
The poll also asked how Russians see relations with the U.S. in the next 10 years: 19 percent believe the two sides will get closer, 29 percent believe they will drift apart, and 42 percent believe the relationship will remain as it is.
The poll also shows that the number of people in Russian society who feel favorably or unfavorably about the United States has not changed much in the last two years. By January of this year, 40 percent had a favorable opinion of the United States and 43 percent had an unfavorable opinion of it.
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