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Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of their summit in Moscow on May 8, 2025. (AFP/Yonhap)

Against the backdrop of the liberal international order based on US hegemony effectively coming to an end with the return of Trump, the leaders of China and Russia met and exhibited strong unity. Amid the deterioration of the free trade order and US-South Korea alliance that served as the foundations of the development and prosperity of the Republic of Korea since the country’s liberation from Japan, maintaining stable relations with China and Russia has become a matter of survival for Korea.

We need to expand the scope in which we can establish our own strategic autonomy that will enable our survival within a multipolar world order. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Moscow. In Xi’s public opening address to their summit, he said that China is working with Russia to “resolutely defend the rights and interests of China, Russia and all other developing countries, and jointly promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.”

Putin said, “The military brotherhood forged between our nations during those difficult wartime years remains a cornerstone of today’s comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China.”

After arriving in Moscow on Wednesday, Xi issued a statement, which read, “China and Russia, both major countries of the world and permanent members of the UN Security Council, will join hands to safeguard the victorious outcome of World War II, firmly safeguard the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, resolutely oppose hegemonism and power politics, practice true multilateralism, and promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system,” according to Xinhua.

As the Trump administration ravages the international order in pursuit of the slogan “Make America Great Again,” it is China that has declared itself the great nation that will defend free trade and the international order. 

Since his inauguration in January, Trump has sought a swift resolution to the war in Ukraine so he could focus US efforts on pressuring and containing China. Analysts have posited that Trump intends to sway Moscow to utilize US-Russia relations to further contain China — a “reverse-Kissinger” strategy of sorts. 

Yet it seems Putin has decided to stay on his current path of bolstering relations with China. 

As the international community loses trust in the US, some European nations have already begun moving to fortify their own national security capacity. 

In a multipolar world order, China and Russia, which have been stifled by US hegemony,  have joined to form a single superpower bloc to state their own opinion. Meanwhile, our longtime ally in the US is shifting its stance from “merciful hegemon” to formal business partner. We need to break free of our reliance on the alliance with the US and begin fundamental discussions about survival in a new world order. 

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