X thread highlights Russia-China alignment

Caitlin Johnstone’s September 2024 X thread argued that Russia and China were drawing closer in response to U.S. pressure, linking that claim to debates over NATO risk, long-range strike policy and wider strategic competition. The post itself was commentary, but the underlying pattern it pointed to has since been echoed in official Russian and Chinese statements and in public exchanges with NATO. A joint Russia-China statement issued on May 8, 2025 said states and alliances should not pursue their own security “at the expense” of other countries and warned against military blocs expanding near the borders of nuclear powers. ### Which part of the X thread can be checked against official records? The May 8, 2025 joint statement from China’s foreign ministry and the Kremlin is the clearest documentary support for the idea of closer diplomatic alignment. The text said Beijing and Moscow were acting from a “strong consensus” between their leaders and called for what they described as equal and indivisible security. It also warned of the risks created by the expansion of existing and newly formed military alliances near the frontiers of nuclear-weapon states. (mfa.gov.cn) Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin reinforced that line during Xi’s Moscow visit in May 2025. Chinese official accounts said the two leaders reached “many new important common understandings” after talks at the Kremlin, while state media said they signed a statement on further deepening their comprehensive strategic partnership. ### How does NATO fit into the argument about alignment? (mfa.gov.cn) NATO put Russia and China together in its own public language on April 21, 2026, when the alliance criticized both countries’ nuclear policies ahead of the U.N. review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York. NATO’s statement said Russia had violated key arms-control commitments and used threatening nuclear rhetoric, while China was expanding and diversifying its nuclear arsenal without transparency. (mfa.gov.cn) Boris Ruge, NATO’s assistant secretary general, told Reuters that Russia’s use of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile in Ukraine was another example of what he called irresponsible nuclear signaling. China, for its part, said it keeps its nuclear forces at the minimum level required for national security and would not join a nuclear arms race. (usnews.com) ### Where do long-range strike debates enter the picture? A February 25, 2025 paper from the Royal United Services Institute said long-range precision strike has become increasingly prominent in both Russian and NATO planning. The authors, Sidharth Kaushal and Juliana Suess, wrote that the deterrent and competitive effects of long-range strike can outweigh its direct battlefield effect and argued that such capabilities shape military behavior on both sides. (usnews.com) The same paper said Russia’s loss of strategic depth has increased the importance of missile threats to targets that can carry operational or strategic weight. That helps explain why long-range strike debates in Europe and NATO are often discussed alongside Russian warnings about alliance deployments and escalation risk, even when the sources making those arguments differ sharply in motive and tone. The link here is an inference from the RUSI paper and the Russia-China statement, not a direct joint claim by all parties. (rusi.org) ### Has Beijing described the partnership in similar terms more recently? Wang Yi said on March 8, 2026 that the China-Russia relationship had stood “rock-solid against all odds,” according to China’s foreign ministry. The statement presented the relationship as durable and framed it as part of Beijing’s broader description of a multipolar international order. (rusi.org) Reuters also reported on April 5, 2026 that Wang said China was willing to continue cooperating with Russia at the United Nations on easing Middle East tensions. That language matters because the original X thread focused on diplomatic arenas, not only military coordination. (mfa.gov.cn) ### What comes next that readers can watch? The United Nations’ 2026 review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty runs from April 27 to May 22 at U.N. headquarters in New York, giving diplomats another venue where Russia, China, NATO states and the United States are all on record. May 19-20, 2026 is the next named bilateral milestone. (usnews.com) Reports published on May 16 said Putin was due in Beijing for talks with Xi, a meeting likely to generate new statements that can be checked against the themes raised in the earlier X thread. (msn.com) (un.org)