Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - Russia on the Eve of National Elections

Interview

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REP. GUS BILIRAKIS (R-FL): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could you both comment on the deepening and widening Sino-Russian relations particularly as it relates to U.S. security interests in China -- in Asia. How concerned should we be about the growing use of regional blocks like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to counter U.S. influence in Asia?

REP. LANTOS: Dr. Piontkovsky.

MR. PIONTKOVSKY: Well I already touch briefly this issue describing current Moscow policy in Central Asia undermining coalition efforts in Afghanistan. I think that, as a Russian nationalist I'm quite sure of, that failure of coalition in Afghanistan will have disastrous security consequences for Russia. First of all, there are (drawn ?) to situation --- (inaudible) -- in Iran when Islamic radical might move into Central Asia Republic and they have a of sympathizers there.

And the second, the Chinese position in Central Asia will increase considerably after United States and NATO generally will leave this region. And I think that our future facing China in Central Asia is less pleasant than the triangle game, this China, Russia, and United States. So again and again, I want to emphasize this point, this anti-American obsession and this driven by internal political consideration, desire to create an image of enemy from West and United States working contrary to the immediate, direct Russian security interest in Central Asia and in the East generally.

REP. LANTOS: Ambassador Talbott.

MR. TALBOTT: I think that the relationship between Russia and China is a coziness of convenience and part of the convenience, a large part of the convenience, is that both of those countries with all the differences between them are uneasy about the pre-eminence of the United States and they see themselves as off-setting that. If I were the president of Russia and were truly a strategic thinker, which Mr. Putin is often alleged to be, I would have one worry above all others -- I would maybe put climate change on that list, but never mind -- and my one worry would be about China.

I would just look at the map of my own country that stretches across 11 time zones, it's bi-continental, and in this vast area in the Far East, it's resource rich and human-being poor. And just south of that vast area in the Far East there is another rather large country with 1.3 billion people which is resource poor. And that is a formula for trouble over the long run and I would not be helping the Chinese learn MIRV technology for their ICBMs and that kind of thing. As for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, I think we have absolutely nothing to fear from it and we should love them up. We should offer through NATO, the EAPC, our European colleagues, OSCE, to have all kinds of partnerships with them. That would make the large members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization rather uncomfortable. Fine. And I think it would give some relief and comfort to the smaller Central Asian members.

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