Washington would like the relationship between Moscow and Beijing to be characterized by "cooperation and collaboration," rather than rising competition, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said at the 2018 International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, TASS reported.
Asked to comment on provisions of the new national defense strategy of the United States, which names Russia and China Washington’s major strategic adversaries, he said that "with both of those nations with great power competition at levels that we had hoped would be characterized more by cooperation and collaboration."
According to Mattis, a bitter rivalry between Moscow and Beijing is "what (Washington) does not want to have happen."
"I think it is an objective fact that Russia has more in common with Western Europe and the United States than they have in common with China. I believe China has more in common with Pacific Ocean nations, the United States and India than they have in common with Russia. I think there is a natural non-convergence of interests," he explained, adding though that there may be "short-term convergence."
