The theory of international regimes in the study of regional scientific and technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and the PRC in 1990-2020s

The article analyzes the current state of scientific and technical cooperation between China and Russia, including at the regional level. As an example of regional cooperation with China, a particular Russian region - Tomsk region was examined in this regard. First of all, this region, is focused on scientific and innovative development, and secondly, it has almost 25-year history of cooperation in the field of science and technology with the People’s Republic of China. It is obvious to assume that over 20 years of close cooperation, it would be possible to see a number of jointly implemented scientific projects as a result of such cooperation. However, not a single joint project in the field of science and technology has been officially implemented with any scientific organization in the city of Tomsk. In addition to this paradox, in 2020 an employee of the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science of the SB RAS, Lukanin A.A., was arrested on suspicion of transferring information constituting a state secret to the Chinese side (about the developments related to alternative power sources). Summing up the lack of scientific and technical projects implemented at the official level between Tomsk and Shenyang, along with the continuation of close contacts in this area that have not ceased for more than 20 years, and the precedent of high treason in favor of the PRC, it can be assumed that the goal of maintaining these contacts by the Chinese side is not finding the ways of establishing cooperation in the field of science, but the search for alternative ways of obtaining classified technologies. These assumptions are supported by the fact of a large number of agreements concluded between former scientists from Russia and scientific and technical companies in China. Such agreements relate to potentially innovative dual-use technologies. At the same time, the scientists themselves perform all the technological work for the Chinese side, as well as sell their intellectual property, since the requirements of the Chinese side in most cases include the transfer of technologies production to them. In the context of the interstate level of bilateral scientific relations, the PRC is the only beneficiary of regional scientific and technical cooperation, while significant damage is inflicted on Russian science and the Russian economy, both federal and regional. In addition, in some cases, certain damage is caused to the security of the state, since the lack of state control over the circulation of promising technologies at the level of individual scientists leads to precedents of classified technology transfer to China. The presence of “grey” commercial sector within the framework of the scientific and technical cooperation regime (albeit at the lowest level of interaction) inevitably leads to a violation of the basic rules and norms of the regime, namely - mutual openness and mutual trust. As the results of the study show, in the case of insufficient state control at any level of bilateral scientific and technical relations, there is a basis for the development of “grey” commerce, which even at the lowest level of scientific and technical relations creates an imbalance in interstate interaction in favor of one of the participants. The stronger this imbalance, the more preconditions appear for extinguishing the current potential of bilateral relations between Russia and China in the field of science and technology, as well as for destroying the existing international regime.

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