Moscow/Beijing: After publicly supporting China over Taiwan issue, Russia today criticised AUKUS, and Beijing soon lapped it up with aplomb, referring to the “deep friendship between President Xi Jinping and President (Vladimir) Putin”, which it claimed “is built on a high degree of mutual trust”.
While Chinese President Xi Jinping said Putin was his best friend, the Russian President reciprocated today by saying that he also believed Jinping to be his friend. “We have worked together for many years and have achieved good results on both the political and economic tracks. I believe that this benefits the people of China and Russia, and gives more balance and a sense of stability in international affairs,” Putin told an interviewer.
Putin repeated what China has been claiming that creating blocks like the one formed by the United States, Great Britain and Australia undermined regional stability.”I believe that being friends with someone is a good thing, but being friends against someone is bad,” he said. He went on to hope that the situation “will not follow some unpredictable scenario and would not create additional tension in the region”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that the “guidance of the heads of state provides the fundamental guarantee for the development and vigour of China-Russia relations”. He added: “We firmly believe that no matter how the international situation may evolve, China-Russia relations will stay the right course and achieve steady and sustained development under the leadership of the two heads of state.”
Beijing believes that practical cooperation is an integral part of China-Russia relations, and an important guarantee for development and revitalization of the two countries. Lijian stated that going forward, China was ready to work with Russia to broaden and deepen bilateral cooperation and make the foundation more solid for the development of China-Russia relations in a new era.
Armed with Russian support on the issue, Beijing today went ahead to proclaim that the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation brings “real threats to regional peace and stability”.
Lijian reiterated the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation creates serious nuclear proliferation risks, and violates the spirit of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). He said it will have a far-reaching impact on the international non-proliferation system and could trigger a new round of arms race, as other countries could follow suit and even cross the nuclear threshold. “It could lead to the resurgence of the Cold War mentality, provoke bloc confrontation and zero-sum geopolitical games in the region,” he said.
Lijian said AUKUS was simialar to the Quad mechanism (a grouping of India, Japan, the USA and Australia) in that they both are subordinate to and serve the US-led “Indo-Pacific strategy”.
China accused the US of repeatedly claims to be a champion of “freedom and openness” , but in fact it is acting to create small cliques and military blocs in the region. “Such moves run counter to the trend of the times and garner no support, and will only cause alarm and rejection among regional countries and the international community,” Lijian said.
– global bihari bureau
