The lovefest between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin continued this week. A video call on Wednesday saw the Russian president cooing that, “for Russian-Chinese relations, it’s safe to say that any time of year is spring” and his Chinese counterpart telling his “old, dear friend” that their two countries needed a “grand plan” further to deepen ties between them. Of course, the realities are a little less harmonious.

Beijing is supplanting Moscow in regions where it once held sway

Russia’s need for energy sales, industrial machinery and dual-use equipment (in other words, things that are not weapons, but still of value in war, such as trucks and bandages) has made it increasingly dependent on its erstwhile “little brother.”

Last week, Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu visited China, where he and the Chinese Foreign Minister “synchronised their watches” in preparation for the leaders’ talks. The secretary’s job is powerfully but loosely-defined. Nonetheless, according to one member of Shoigu’s team, he is concerned that the relationship is getting too unbalanced: “he doesn’t want to go down in history as the man who sold Russia to Beijing.”

He has good reason. While Putin has been eager to tout the new connections between the two nations, this is less than meets........

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