The more important reasons for the unease are the negative demographic trends in Russia’s far-eastern Trans-Baikal region, and the fear – shared by all of China’s neighbors – of overweening Chinese power. Indeed, the pundits have a point: if the current economic near-stagnation in Siberia persists, the world will witness a second, epic edition of Finlandization, this time in the east.
隐忧更重要的原因是俄罗斯远东外贝加尔地区的人口负增长趋势以及对中国实力膨胀的担忧（这一点中国的所有邻国都感受得到）。事实上，专家认为，如果西伯利亚维持当前近于停顿的经济趋势，那么世界将再一次经历大规模的芬兰化，这一次将发生在东方。这或许并非一国所能遇到的最坏情形，但也不是俄罗斯人所面临的最乐观情景，因为俄罗斯人自视为超级大国的观念早已根深蒂固。