By Nicole Weatherholtz | Thursday, 21 May 2026 12:45 PM EDT
China and Russia are no longer operating from positions of strength and are increasingly leaning on one another as President Donald Trump reasserts American power globally, China expert Gordon Chang said.
Chang noted that despite a high-profile meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, the reality behind the scenes points to a strained relationship between the two nations.
“On the surface, it looks like things are fine,” he said after noting the two nations signed 40 agreements during Putin’s visit. “But Putin did not get what he came for — and that was to go forward on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline.”
That failure, Chang explained, reveals growing weakness and friction between Moscow and Beijing.
“So we know that relations between China and Russia right now are not as good as they once were,” he said.
Chang argued that both regimes are facing mounting setbacks as Trump pushes back aggressively against Russian and Chinese influence around the globe.
“We got two weak states that are trying to find comfort in each other’s arms,” he added.
Chang pointed to Russia’s continuing struggles in Ukraine and what he described as Trump successfully countering China’s expanding influence in the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East.
“Russia is being pushed out of Ukraine, and Trump is forcing China out of the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East,” he said. “All these guys can do — Xi Jinping and Putin — is carp and complain.”
Chang also rejected the idea that Beijing’s recent meetings with Trump and Putin prove China has become the center of global power.
“The narrative right now is that China is the center of global politics,” he stated. “But just when you look at it, neither China nor Russia can challenge the United States when the United States is determined.”
According to Chang, Trump’s leadership has restored U.S. determination and forced both adversaries onto the defensive.
“The United States has been determined under President Trump,” he said. “Right now, they’re both looking to get things from the United States, and it’s within Trump’s power to give them what they want. And he’s not — that’s a really good thing.”
