Alexander Arkadievich Koltiukov

　　Against the background of globalization, the high speed of Asian economic development will bring about great changes to Asia itself and to the balance of political power in the whole world. According to the predictions of analysts, the energy issue will become a serious limiting factor in economic developments. In this respect, the countries of Northeast Asia have already been on the verge of crisis. It is predicted that the United States, Japan and the European Union will not only compete economically with the fast developing countries in the region, but also oppose them actively. Western countries may use the method of economic containment, such as tariff barriers, reduction of goods importation, and limitation of foreign investment and exportation of advanced technologies. And they may also provoke arms race in order to increase the budget burden of the Asian countries. Western countries may also use another method. They may impose the standards of western democracy and American value system on Asia-Pacific countries in order to gradually change their way of life. According to some researchers, one of the possible scenarios is that the United States, Japan and the European Union will not only become united in terms of economic policy to restrain the economic growth of the Asia-Pacific region, but also strengthen their military alliance within the framework of NATO, and the US-Japanese and US-South Korean military alliances. At the same time, other Asia-Pacific countries will be absorbed into these alliances. Facing the sharply changing situation in Asia, Russia and China should choose their own policy direction. In order to solve many urgent problems in the region, cooperation between them is highly needed. One of the basic fields of cooperation between Russia and China under the new conditions should be that of science and technology. However, this kind of cooperation develops not rapidly enough at present. Only when Russia and China work hard together can they be a balancing force in the military, political and economic competition of the Asia-Pacific region. Obviously, neither Russia nor China is now prepared to form a close relationship of alliance in all the fields of foreign policy, because they have different opinions on the future development of their own country. However, a partnership based on mutual consultation and the formulation of unified policies according to the national interests of the two countries can bring us benefits right now.