This thesis attempts to analyze the escalation of military cooperation between The People‟s Republic of China and the Russian Federation between years 2012-2017, after a relative decline prior to this timeframe. China and Russia had established military cooperation since the end of the Cold War, in areas of joint military cooperation, arms and weapons trade, as well as senior-level military contacts. However, relative decline in 2005 to 2011 had occurred starting with reverse-engineering suspicions towards China and their ability to produce its own weaponry. Due to national interests, the developments of situations in the international environment, as well as foundations of many shared common grounds, the cooperation picked up quickly and escalated in 2012 to 2017.

In further pursuing its interests of economic development and geopolitical influence, China establishes military cooperation with Russia. On the other hand, Russia faced pressure from the Western powers, particularly The United States, after its involvement in the 2014 annexation of Crimea causing crippling effects to its economy. This thesis identifies the driver factors of the military cooperation escalation of both countries throughout 2012-2017, as well as the basis of China‟s foreign policies in increasing cooperation with Russia. The main paradigm is neorealism to analyze the issue, while foreign policy, national interest, military diplomacy and idiosyncrasy is used to support the main paradigm. Bandwagoning theory is used to analyze Russia‟s attitude in becoming closer with China. In 2017, the two countries signed a military roadmap to deepen military cooperation for 2017-2020, depicting how the bilateral military cooperation between the two countries of reached a new level of trust and strategic cooperation.

Descriptive-analytical research method is used in this thesis to analyze and give descriptions of the case-in-hand. This thesis is expected to provide explanations of the closer relations between China and Russia that have moved towards an even higher-level of military cooperation.

Keywords: Military Cooperation, China, Russia, Escalation, Neorealism, Foreign Policy, Bandwagoning
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