China, Russia Foreign Discuss ‘Next Stage of High-Level Interactions’

Russia takes a jibe at the US-led Indo-Pacific strategy, calls it tactics to sow discord, division, and confrontation among regional countries. Moscow says it is willing to deepen strategic cooperation with Beijing to jointly maintain the overall situation of regional peace and stability

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New Delhi: Following the successful footprints of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), China in attempts to forge deeper alliances held strategic talks with the host Russia. Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi held close talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Beijing attempts to draw Moscow towards its side, as regional pressure against China from New Delhi and Taipei – over its imperialistic policy – invites the United States to make an intervention.

Yi congratulated the Russian side on successfully holding the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the China-Russia-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting as the chairman country, which has sent a clear signal to uphold multilateralism, safeguard the authority of international law, and safeguard the basic norms of international relations. In his talk, Yi said that since the beginning of this year, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, Sino-Russian relations have withstood the test of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the ever-changing international situation. The economic and social lives of the two countries are recovering in an orderly manner and the governance capabilities and levels of governance of the two countries have been further improved.

The two sides firmly support each other on the international stage, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the two countries, and forcefully counter the attacks and smear against China and Russia by some extremist forces in the United States. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II and the founding of the United Nations [UN]. The two countries have joined hands to preserve the outcome of the victory in World War II, maintain the core position of the UN, uphold international fairness and justice, and inject more stabilizing force into the volatile international situations.

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“We are willing to work with Russia to make comprehensive preparations for the next stage of high-level interactions between the two countries and make plans for cooperation in various fields. The two sides should continue their close coordination, continue to strengthen joint prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, explore new ways to strengthen cooperation amid a normalization of pandemic prevention and control, and establish arrangements to facilitate cross-border movement of people and goods between the two countries,” Yi said while emphasizing that network and information security are important areas of China-Russia and international cooperation.

At present, certain countries rely on their own scientific and technological capabilities to brazenly monitor other countries and steal their information. The Chinese side recently put forward the – Global Initiative on Data Security – with the purpose of responding to the common concerns and major doubts of all parties in the field of data security, and working with all parties to advance the formulation of international rules for digital security.

Meanwhile, Lavrov, who spoke after Yi, started his speech on celebrating the success of the SCO and the Russia-China-India Foreign Ministers’ meeting on September 10.

“These meetings were very fruitful, as we reached a series of mutually beneficial and win-win consensus. Despite a ravaging pandemic this year, Russia-China bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields have progressed steadily. Personnel of the two countries has maintained comrade-like exchanges, maintained close strategic coordination on the international stage, firmly supported each other on issues involving each other’s core interests, firmly championed multilateralism together, and safeguarded the core position of the UN,” Lavrov said.

Responding to China’s offer on advancing the ties between Moscow and Beijing, Lavrov said that the Russian side is willing to communicate closely with the Chinese side.

“We want to advance important bilateral and multilateral agendas for this year, deepen cooperation in various fields, and continuously inject new impetus into bilateral relations,” he said.

Commenting on the United States currently taking destructive actions to implement the Indo-Pacific strategy, which is full of the Cold War mentality, in the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Foreign Minister claimed that such tactics were sowing discord among regional countries. “They also cause division and even confrontation. Russia is willing to deepen strategic cooperation with the Chinese side, attach importance to ASEAN’s central position in regional cooperation, and jointly maintain the overall situation of regional peace and stability,” he voiced.

Lavrov claimed that the Russian side positively evaluates the – Global Initiative on Data Security – proposed by the Chinese side, against the background of certain countries continuing to politicize information and communication technology and network security, and using the pretext of maintaining national security to suppress other countries.

“The initiative proposed by the Chinese side is conducive to advancing the formulation of international standards in the field of data security and also conducive to expanding Russia and China’s cooperation in the field of international information security,” Lavrov said.

The two countries also issued a joint statement by the Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers, which clarified the common position of China and Russia on various challenges facing the world today.