BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin Finished a 2-day visit to China On Friday, he highlighted the two countries’ strategic relationship and personal relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which seeks to offer an alternative to U.S. global influence.
President Putin praised the growth in bilateral trade while touring the China-Russia Expo in the northeastern city of Harbin. He met students from Harbin Institute of Technology, known for its defense research and cooperation with the People’s Liberation Army.
Harbin, the capital of China’s Heilongjiang Province, was once home to many Russian expatriates, and some of its history can be seen in its buildings, including the Saint Sophia Cathedral, a former Russian Orthodox church in the center. remain.
Underscoring the personal nature of the relationship, President Putin said the Harbin Institute and his alma mater, St. Petersburg State University, would open a joint school for 1,500 students. “I am sure that this will become the flagship of Russian-Chinese cooperation in science and education,” he said.
President Putin told reporters he had praised his meeting with Xi as “substantive” and said he had spent “almost the entire day from morning until evening” in Beijing with the Chinese leader and other officials the previous day. . The two leaders embraced as he departed from Beijing.
The China-Russia partnership is “not directed at anyone,” Putin said in a veiled reference to the West. “Its sole purpose is to create better conditions for the development of our country and improve the well-being of the people of China and the Russian Federation.”
But he chided the United States and other countries that still opposed Moscow’s relationship with Beijing, saying, “A new multipolar world… is now taking shape before our eyes.”
“And it is important that those who seek to maintain a monopoly on global decision-making on all issues do everything in their power to allow this process to run its course.”
Russia and China frequently talk about the “arrival of a multipolar world” in opposition to what they see as US hegemony.
Joseph Trijan, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, said the message China and Russia are sending is clear: “Right now, they’re telling the West that they can be rebellious when they want to be. It’s a reminder,” he said.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu addresses President Putin’s visit In an interview with The Associated PressHe said Western countries should continue to support Ukraine as part of sending a message that democracies will protect each other.
“A final defeat for Ukraine could galvanize China to take even more ambitious steps to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific, which would be disastrous for the international community,” Wu said. he said.
President Putin begins his fifth term in power this month. Mr. Xi made his third start. last year. The Russian leader’s visit is “an example of two major autocracies supporting each other, cooperating, and supporting each other’s expansionism,” Wu added.
Russia became globally isolated Invasion of Ukraine in 2022. China has tense relations with the United States, which identifies it as a competitor and faces pressure to continue supplying Russia with key components needed for weapons production.
Putin began the day by laying flowers at a memorial in Harbin commemorating Soviet soldiers who died fighting for China against Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, when Japan occupied parts of China. Ta.
At the trade fair in Harbin, President Putin emphasized the importance of cooperation between Russia and China in the joint development of new technologies.
“Relying on our traditions of friendship and cooperation, we can look to the future with confidence,” he said. “Russia-China partnership will help the economic growth of both countries, ensure energy security, contribute to the development of production and the creation of new jobs.”
Thursday’s joint statement explained the two countries’ worldviews and detailed criticism of U.S. military alliances in the Asia-Pacific. The meeting reaffirmed the friendly “unrestricted” relations signed by China and Russia in 2022, just before Russia invaded Ukraine.
While Thursday’s remarks frequently focused on the topic of ending the fighting, Russia has just opened a new front by launching attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern border region.The war is Important points for Ukrainefaced delays in acquiring weapons from the United States.
China proposed a far-reaching plan for peace Last year, it was rejected by both Ukraine and the West for not asking Russia to withdraw from occupied territory in Ukraine.
Since the invasion of Moscow and subsequent Western sanctions, Russia has become increasingly dependent on China for technology and some consumer imports, while exporting cheap energy. Trade between the two countries increased to $240 billion last year.
european leaders put pressure on China Attempts were made to influence Russia to stop the invasion, but to little avail. Experts say relations between Moscow and Beijing have strategic benefits, especially when the two countries have tensions with Europe and the United States.
“Even if China were to compromise on various issues, including cutting aid to Russia, it is unlikely that the United States or Western countries would dramatically change their attitude toward China as a competitor,” said the Institute for Chinese Diplomacy in Singapore. says policy researcher Phu Tien Boon. Nanyang Technological University. “They see little incentive to compromise.”
Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin have long agreed to visit each other’s countries once a year, and Mr. Xi was welcomed in the Kremlin last year.
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Wu reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Simina Mistlenu and Christopher Bodine in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed.
