Traditional allies driven to act as their rivals step up efforts to win over their friends. "If China feels that US effort to contain China is getting severe and intense, China will make the strategic move to invite Kim Jong Un to Beijing as an international warning to the US," he added.

The rising tensions between Russia and the West, especially the United States, over Ukraine provide a constant reminder of the Cold War, when the two superpowers fought proxy conflicts for spheres of influence. A key question in the current game of great power politics is whether China and Russia will form an alliance against the United States?