NIAS Area Studies
PAKISTAN READER
IN FOCUS
By Avishka Ashok
Joint statement by China and Russia: Three major areas of cooperation
On 4 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China to partake in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. President Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed numerous issues of mutual interests such as the pandemic, regional security, increasing global challenges, multipolarity and economic globalization.
Prior to Putin’s visit, he published an article for Xinhua News Agency titled: “Russia and China: A Future-Oriented Strategic Partnership.” Putin emphasized the development of business ties between China and Russia, the drawbacks of unilateral sanctions, energy cooperation, space cooperation and environmental cooperation. The two countries also issued a joint statement on “the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development.”
The statement highlights the future partnership between China and Russia in the following three areas.
1. China and Russia will cooperate on the issue of multipolarity
The first part of the statement focuses on the US insistence on a “one-size-fits-all” kind of democracy, which China and Russia believe is unfeasible for countries with diverse demography and different political and economic challenges. The statement remarked that the Chinese and Russian form of democracy had evolved through the years and had adopted a system that was appreciated by the people of the two countries. Russia and China observed that the actions of the US and the West were dividing the international system on the basis of ideology and going back to the era of alliances and blocs, which is a dangerous development for global peace.
2. Russia and China will support the underdeveloped and developing states, with special emphasis on Eurasia.
The joint statement emphasizes the countries’ commitment towards developing and connecting the Eurasian region. Both countries share a mutual interest in developing the region as they aim to improve connectivity with the rest of the continents and especially in the neighbouring countries. The Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative are aimed at achieving these goals of China and Russia. Other than Eurasia, they also agreed to work together on the sustainable development of the Arctic. They also extended their support to international development projects and urged other developed nations to support the developing and underdeveloped states by providing assistance, resources and actively work against imbalanced developments of states. The statement showcased the Kremlin’s willingness in supporting the China-led Global Development Initiative along with other initiatives of the United Nations.
In a bid to help the poorer countries rise from the clutches of the pandemic and the pandemic-induced economic and political challenges, China and Russia promised to increase the production of vaccines and effective and efficiently supply the vaccines to all needy countries. Both countries agreed to enhance their cooperation on epidemiological science and prevent future outbreaks.
3. Russia stands firmly with China on the Taiwan issue.
The joint statement asserts and agrees to the “One-China” principle and strongly rejected the idea of Taiwanese independence. The Kremlin expressed its stand against the interference by external actors in the internal affairs of China. Both countries assented to mutual non-interference in each other’s affairs under any pretext. They will continue their cooperation on eradicating terrorism and anti-state activities. Through the joint statement, China and Russia also expressed their opinion against the expansion of NATO and urged the West to withdraw their cold war era attitude and respect the territorial sovereignty, independence of states and security concerns of every state. They raised their concerns regarding new alliances and groupings such as the AUKUS and advocated states to unitedly prevent violent activities against other states. Both countries appreciated the agreement of the P5 countries to not use nuclear weapons and promoted the peaceful and constructive use of nuclear science. They also affirmed their position on the release of the contaminated water from the Fukushima power plant and implored Japan to take the appropriate safety measures to ensure minimal ecological damage to the shared sea.
China’s perspective on the Sino-Russian joint statement
Beijing believes that China and Russia are entering an era of new international order with multipolarity at its core. The Chinese media reported that the joint statement showcased the similarity of thought amongst the Communist Party of China and the Kremlin. The two countries were able to consent to all core issues, which portrayed the strong and sturdy bilateral relations between China and Russia.
The statement touched upon all issues of regional and international importance and is evidence of the fact that the Sino-Russian friendship is bound to continue like it did in the past. The leadership in China and Russia believes that the friendly relations between the administrations as well as the community-to-community relations will act as a catalyst in propagating the engines off, not just mutual economic growth, but also global economic development. Despite the US lead in almost all areas of international politics and the hegemony of the West, the CPC and the Russian administration are certain that the friendly relations between the two countries and other like-minded states will enable large scale global development.
References:
“Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development • President of Russia,” Kremlin, 4 February 2022
“Full text of Putin's signed article for Xinhua,” Xinhua Net, 3 February 2022
“Unprecedented China-Russia ties to start a new era of intl relations not defined by US,” Global Times, 5 February 2022