"Endogenous Drives" with "No-Limits": Contrasting Chinese Policy Narratives on Sino–Russian Relations since 2014

Abstract

This article compares the two policy narratives that have recently become prominent among Chinese political and expert circles regarding the Sino-Russian relationship: "no limits" and "endogenous drives". While the two policy discourses convey a certain degree of internal tension, they converge on portraying Sino-Russian relations as operating on a level distinct, and higher than that of the "axis of convenience" or the "revisionist challenger to liberal order" conceptualizations of the relationship that are prevalent in Western discourse.