Putin’s Ambitions Turn to the Far East
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 09/07/2012 - 02:59
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is seizing on the Asia-Pacific economic summit conference being held here this weekend to turn assertively to the Far East, hoping to strengthen ties with the Pacific Rim and pursuing ambitious development in Russia itself, starting with this formerly secret naval fortress turned shipping hub on the Sea of Japan.His timing could hardly seem better.
With major economies shaky in the European Union — collectively Russia’s largest trading partner — and Japan’s needing to buy vast new supplies of energy abroad, Russia, rich in gas and oil, is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in Asia as a hedge against any contraction of its business in the West.Mr. Putin’s look eastward also has political dimensions, as he aims to strengthen ties, particularly with Beijing.
For instance, Russia and China have used their alliance at the United Nations Security Council to veto more aggressive intervention in Syria sought by other powers, including the United States.“Presently, the Russian-Chinese relations are at an unprecedented high level, and we have a lot of mutual trust both in politics and economy,” Mr. Putin said in an interview with the state-controlled television channel, Russia Today, broadcast Thursday to coincide with his arrival in Vladivostok for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
This is the first time that the annual economic summit meeting is taking place in Russia, and the government has spent more than $20 billion to upgrade the city’s badly deteriorated infrastructure, with improvements that include a new airport, hundreds of miles of rebuilt roads and three new bridges.One, the Russky Bridge, spanning two miles across the Eastern Bosporus to the sparsely populated island where the conference is being held, is now the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.
There is a chance, despite Mr. Putin’s ambitions, that his economic and policy goals will amount to wishful thinking, given the long history of mistrust and unease between Russia and its Asian neighbors.
On the domestic front, critics say the infrastructure spending, particularly on the big bridge, which alone cost more than $1 billion, is the latest boondoggle in a country so troubled by corruption and mismanagement that projects typically run double the cost elsewhere.By this view, the corruption is a sign of a broader lack of rule of law that makes investing in Russia a risky venture.Despite those endemic concerns, there are signs that timing is on the Kremlin’s side, if only by happenstance.
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