Publication

This paper discusses the history of Sino-Russian confidence building measures (CBM). The author describes how the Sino-Russian agreements from the 1990s on resolving border disputes and on force reductions provide an interesting case study of how CBMs, both as a process and outcome of bilateral negotiations between former adversaries, can contribute to regional security and stability. The paper observes that Sino-Russian CBMs, while incorporating many of the features of the European model, are nevertheless unique in their development in that their integration into the security framework has been facilitated by an overall improving bilateral politico-economic relationship and the political commitments from the two countries' top leaders.