Russia fears China could annex part of its Far East region, including the port city of Vladivostok, and beyond, according to a leaked document from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
The eight-page internal FSB document, obtained by The New York Times, reveals that despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's outward projection of warm ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, he fears Beijing is "trying to encroach" on Russian territory.
When contacted for comment, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Newsweek: "Regarding China-Russia relations, in recent years, with the joint efforts of both sides, China-Russia relations have maintained a stable, healthy and high-level development trend.
"Long-term good-neighborliness, friendship, mutual benefit, cooperation and win-win results have become the distinctive characteristics of the relationship between the two countries."
Why It Matters
The emergence of the document comes against the backdrop of a shifting alliance between Moscow and Beijing. Both countries have forged closer ties in recent years, despite Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Putin and Xi declaring a "no-limits partnership" in 2022.
According to the Times the leaked document "gives the most detailed behind-the-scenes view to date of Russian counterintelligence's thinking about China" and describes "a 'tense and dynamically developing' intelligence battle in the shadows between the two outwardly friendly nations."
What To Know
The undated document appears to have been written in late 2023 or early 2024, according to the Times. A previously undisclosed unit of the FSB referred to China in the document as "the enemy" and as posing a serious threat to Russian national security.
The report highlights Russia's deep-rooted mistrust of China across their 2,615-mile shared border, and points out how Chinese nationalists have long challenged 19th-century treaties under which Russia acquired vast territories, including what is now Vladivostok.
Vladivostok was ceded to Tsarist Russia in 1860 under the Treaty of Peking, which established the border between China and Russia along the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, as indicated on Newsweek's maps in this article. This agreement granted Russia control of Vladivostok, a key port city in the Russian Far East.
Per the FSB, China has sought to bolster its historical claims in the Russian Far East by researching traces of "ancient Chinese peoples" in the region. In 2023, China's Ministry of Natural Resources mandated that new maps use the Chinese names for Vladivostok and seven other cities in the region. The document suggests that China may be trying to influence local opinion to support its narrative.
The FSB memo also alleges that Chinese intelligence agents are interested in the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route, which is located by the northern coast of Russia. The route, which significantly reduces shipping time between Asia and Europe, would allow China to export its goods more efficiently.
Besides territorial concerns, Putin's security service is worried Chinese intelligence is recruiting Russian spies, attempting to get a hold of sensitive military tech, and gathering information about Russia's operations in Ukraine to learn more about Western tech and warfare.
"The document describes mistrust and suspicion on both sides of the relationship," the publication reported, noting that China is conducting polygraph tests on its agents as soon as they return home. Beijing has also reportedly tightened scrutiny of the roughly 20,000 Russian students studying in China and has sought to recruit Russians married to Chinese citizens as potential spies.
What People Are Saying
Paul Kolbe, a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, who served for 25 years in the CIA Directorate of Operations, including in Russia, told the Times: "To go back to the old adage, there is no such thing as friendly intel services. You don't have to scratch very deep in any Russian military or intel official to get deep suspicion of China. In the long run, China is, in spite of the unlimited partnership and how useful they are, also a potential threat."
What Happens Next
Outwardly, Putin and Xi are likely to continue to project an image of close ties. Just last month, they signed a joint statement pledging to "further deepen" their partnership after holding talks in Moscow.
Update 06/10/25, 04:16 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
