“By unilaterally taking out of the Irtysh far more water than ever before, China has put at risk the economies and populations of downstream communities in Kazakhstan and Russian Federation, threatened a delicate eco-system and raised questions about Beijing’s plans regarding other trans-border rivers in the Russian Far East.”

http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/2009/11/window-on-eurasia-china-enters-central.html

Like them or not, I don’t think anyone wants to see these two at swords’ point over scarce water supplies.