BEIJING/MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin met Thursday in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping to increase their strategic ties as a new Cold War emerges with the West.
The two leaders signed a statement on “deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership” between their two nations, seen by critics as a clear warning to the United States and its allies.
Xi said China and Russia would “continue to uphold a position of non-alliance and non-confrontation” and that Beijing seeks peace in Russia’s war with Ukraine. However, he declined to condemn the Russian invasion of the country.
As their talks began, Putin was greeted by Xi with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People, the massive seat of the ceremonial legislature sitting aside Tiananmen Square in the heart of the capital, Beijing.
The two leaders met near the once blood-stained location where, some 34 years ago, massive pro-democracy rallies were crushed by the army in a crackdown now known as the “Tiananmen Square Massacre.”
Chinese authorities claimed the death toll was about 300, most of them soldiers, with only 23 students confirmed killed. China never provided a total death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into the thousands.
It remains one of the most censored topics, including during Putin’s trip to China.
CONGRATULATING PUTIN
On Thursday, Xi congratulated Putin on his “election to a fifth term in office” and celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the former Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, which swept to power in a civil war in 1949.
With most prominent dissidents now dead, exiled, or in jail, Putin faced no credible opposition in the recent presidential race and, like Xi, has not laid out any plans for any potential successors.
Putin and Xi signed a statement that criticized the United States on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the growing concern of a U.S.-China clash over Taiwan, the democratically ruled island that Beijing seeks to take over, perhaps by force.
Tensions also remain high in the South China Sea, where Chinese coast guard and naval vessels have clashed with Philippines vessels over a disputed shoal.
“The parties reiterate their serious concern over the attempts of the United States to disrupt the strategic security balance in the region,” the document said.
The 7,000-word statement examples include America’s global missile defenses using regional components and assets in space, as well as the U.S. military’s development of precision non-nuclear strike weapons that they warned could be used to take out the leaders of foreign governments.
“The parties strongly condemn these extremely destabilizing steps, which pose a direct threat to the security of Russia and China,” the statement stressed. “The parties oppose the hegemonic attempts of the United States to change the balance of power in Northeast Asia by building up military power and creating military blocs and coalitions.”
“STRATEGIC COOPERATION”
Xi said in a media statement that the two nations plan to expand relations and “strategic cooperation.”
The summit followed an accord signed in 2022 by Putin and Xi called the “no limits” partnership, signed days before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, launching the deadly conflict that is now in its third year.
The official state visit, Putin’s first abroad since again assuming office last month, included a red-carpet review of People’s Liberation Army troops, a 21-gun salute, and cheering schoolchildren waving Chinese and Russian flags at a welcoming ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
“China and Russia have served as role models by showing others ways of building state-to-state ties of a new kind and working together as two major neighboring powers,” Xi said.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in an annual threat assessment earlier this month that Chinese support for Russia’s defense industrial base is tipping the balance of the war in Ukraine in Moscow’s favor.
While Xi and Putin met, Ukrainian forces locked in street battles with Russian troops in a key northeastern Ukraine town. Military officials in Kyiv claimed they halted the Russian advance, but Moscow officials said the frontline push had enough resources to keep going.
Ukrainian authorities have evacuated some 8,000 civilians from the town. The Russian army’s usual tactic is to reduce towns and villages to ruins with aerial strikes before its units move in.
NUCLEAR POWER
In turn, for Chinese support, Russia has been a leading supplier of nuclear material and reactors that the U.S. fears are being used for Beijing’s large-scale nuclear warhead buildup and could make China a significant nuclear power.
Air Force Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, reportedly cited mounting concern over the growing collaboration among U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia, and Iran.
The latest Russian-Chinese summit came days after Xi visited European nations
France, Serbia
Putin said that China is now Russia’s leading trading partner, with 80 current construction projects valued at $200 billion between the two states.
He added that trade is now conducted in Russian and Chinese currencies to protect against influence by “third parties” and global currency markets, referring to international sanctions led by the United States.
