Giants align against West
The leaders of Russia and China pushed back against US pressure yesterday, declaring their opposition to any expansion of Nato and affirming that the island of Taiwan is a part of China, as they met just hours before the Winter Olympics began in Beijing.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping issued a joint statement highlighting what they called ‘‘interference in the internal affairs’’ of other states, as both leaders face criticism from Washington over their foreign and domestic policies.
‘‘Some forces representing a minority on the world stage continue to advocate unilateral approaches to resolving international problems and resort to military policy,’’ it read, in a thinly veiled reference to the US and its allies.
The two leaders are looking to project themselves as a counterweight to the US-led bloc, as China shows growing support for Moscow in its dispute with Ukraine that threatens to break out into armed conflict.
China and Russia are committed to ‘‘deepening back-to-back strategic co-operation’’, Xi was quoted as telling Putin.
‘‘This is a strategic decision that has far-reaching influence on China, Russia and the world,’’ Xi said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Faced with a ‘‘complex and evolving international situation,’’ the two sides ‘‘strongly support each other’’ in confronting what Xi called ‘‘regional security threats’’ and ‘‘international strategic stability’’, without directly naming the US.
Putin is the highest-profile guest at the Beijing Games following the decision by the US, Britain, New Zealand and others not to send officials in protest at China’s human rights abuses and its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
Putin praised ‘‘unprecedented’’ close relations with China in
his opening remarks to Xi, carried by Russian television. Putin highlighted close economic ties, including a new contract to supply China with gas.
Kevin Rudd, president of the Asia Society and former Australian prime minister, called Beijing’s backing of Moscow over Nato expansion ‘‘highly significant’’.
‘‘It puts at risk China’s wider relationship with the Europeans,’’ Rudd said. ‘‘But Xi believes he is now powerful enough and has sufficient economic leverage with Europe to get away with it. It also signifies that China now sees itself as a global, not just a regional, security actor.’’
The discussions come as China and Russia increasingly align their foreign policies bilaterally and in world bodies such as the United Nations, in opposition to the Western bloc and other major powers.
A buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fuelled Western fears that Moscow is poised to invade its neighbour.
Russia has denied planning an offensive but urged the US and its allies to provide a binding pledge that Nato won’t expand to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations or deploy weapons there, and roll back its forces from tastern Europe – demands firmly rejected by the West.
Some observers suggested that Beijing was closely watching how the US and its allies act in the standoff over Ukraine as it ponders further strategy on Taiwan, arguing that indecision by Washington could encourage China to grow more assertive.
The US is Taiwan’s main supplier of fighter aircraft and defensive arms, and it is legally bound to treat threats to the island democracy as matters of ‘‘grave concern’’.
The joint statement said that Russia reaffirms that Taiwan is an integral part of China and opposes Taiwan’s independence in any form.