Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have condemned what they described as ‘increasingly aggressive U.S. behaviour’ on Thursday and pledged to deepen their countries’ already close defence and military ties.
In a clear snub to Washington, whose top diplomat flew into China last month to try to persuade Beijing to scale back its relationship with Moscow, Xi signalled Beijing and Moscow saw eye to eye on a range of important issues, including on Ukraine, and would resist Western pressure to downgrade their ties.
“The China-Russia relationship today is hard-earned, and the two sides need to cherish and nurture it,” Xi told Putin.
“China is willing to … jointly achieve the development and rejuvenation of our respective countries, and work together to uphold fairness and justice in the world,” he said.
A joint statement spoke of concerns about what were described as U.S. efforts to violate the strategic nuclear balance, about global U.S. missile defence that threatened Russia and China, and about U.S. plans for high precision non-nuclear weapons.
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Putin, on his first overseas trip since being inaugurated this month for a new presidential term, described Moscow and Beijing’s co-operation in world affairs as one of the main stabilising factors in the international arena.
“Together we are defending the principles of justice and a democratic world order reflecting multipolar realities and based on international law,” Putin told Xi.
Putin’s visit comes weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew into China to raise concerns about what he said was China’s support for Russia’s military and a day after he said Washington would continue to impose sanctions on Chinese companies supplying Russia’s defence sector.
Blinken’s China trip appears to have been an unsuccessful attempt to undermine a “no limits” partnership proclaimed when Putin visited Beijing in February 2022, just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.
By picking China for his first foreign trip since being sworn-in this month for a six-year term that will keep him in power until at least 2030, Putin is sending a message to the world about his priorities and the strength of his personal ties with Xi.
The joint statement was described as deepening the strategic relationship and spoke specifically of how joint cooperation in the defence sectors between the two nations improved regional and global security and of plans to step up military ties.
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