After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a wide-ranging improvement of bilateral relations developed between China and Russia. Nowadays, Russia and China maintain a strategic partnership consisting of comprehensive cooperation in the areas of diplomacy, defence and security, as well as energy. However, whereas Russia until recently took the lead in the relationship between Beijing and Moscow, this has now turned around: China has become stronger than Russia. During the course of the last decade, more and more signals have appeared that the Sino–Russian teamwork is crumbling. What will the security relationship between Moscow and Beijing look like in the future?