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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
/
Russia defense chief touts ‘common understanding’ with China in
Beijing talks
By Simone McCarthy, CNN
Updated:
2:04 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024
Source: CNN
Chinese and Russian defense officials vowed to strengthen their
cooperation during meetings in Beijing this week – in the latest sign
of deepening alignment between the neighbors that’s been closely
watched by the US and its allies.
The two countries have “common views, a common assessment of the
situation, and a common understanding of what we need to do
together,” defense chief Andrey Belousov told Zhang Youxia, vice
chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, Russian state media
Tass.
Their task is to “strengthen and develop” their strategic
partnership, the Russian defense chief added.
The visit has been cited by Russian state media as Belousov’s first
to China since his appointment in May and comes days ahead of an
expected visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Russia.
Russia and China have been bolstering their security coordination in
the face of shared frictions with the West. That’s included in
recent months – part of what experts say is an effort to signal to
Washington that, while the two are not allies, neither stands alone.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Zhang repeated rhetoric voiced by Xi and
Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for the two militaries to
“deepen and expand military-to-military relations, safeguard their
respective national sovereignty, security and development interests,
and jointly safeguard international and regional peace and
stability,” according to from China’s Defense Ministry.
Belousov also held talks a day earlier with Chinese Defense Minister
Dong Jun, who ranks below Zhang in China’s military hierarchy.
The Russian defense chief’s trip comes ahead of an expected visit by
Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Kazan, Russia next week for a summit of
BRICS, an economic grouping Moscow and Beijing see as their answer to
the US-backed Group of Seven (G7).
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not confirmed Xi’s travel
plans, but the Kremlin last month Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as
confirming the leader’s attendance. The trip would be Xi’s second
to Russia since Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the in
the same period.
Regular high-level diplomacy and increased security coordination
between China and Russia have come under close scrutiny from the US and
its allies, who have accused Beijing of enabling Russia’s war through
the provision of dual-use goods like machine tools and
microelectronics.
Joint patrols
Beijing has defended what it calls its “normal trade” with Russia
and claims neutrality in the conflict. The two countries reached record
levels of trade last year as China emerged as a key economic lifeline
for Russia, which is strapped by war-related international sanctions.
In recent weeks, Chinese and Russian coast guards conducted what
Beijing described as their while their navies separately practiced
anti-submarine warfare in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Russian state
media .
The patrol followed a raft of joint exercises over the summer,
including near Alaska – where US and Canadian forces together for the
first time – and in the South China Sea, a vital waterway claimed
almost entirely by Beijing in which geopolitical tensions are rapidly
rising.
Belousov’s Monday coincided with China’s military flying a and
other warplanes around Taiwan during large-scale military drills.
China said the drills were intended as a “stern warning” to what it
described as pro-independence forces in Taiwan. The drills came days
after the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, gave a speech vowing
to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty in the face of challenges from
Beijing, which claims the self-ruling democracy as its own.
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