Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin yesterday and called for a "constructive" relationship with Washington despite fierce opposition to a US plan for a national missile defense system.
The two leaders met in Shang-hai to kick off a six-nation summit aimed at combating Islamic militancy in Central Asia just days before Putin is due to meet US President George W. Bush in Slovenia.
The Shanghai Five -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- and the group's new member Uzbekistan were expected to show a united front against Bush's missile defense plans as he headed into a summit with the EU.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters in Shanghai that Jiang and Putin discussed the Russian leader's imminent meeting with Bush.
"The Chinese side attaches great importance to its relations with the United States for international stability," he said. "The Chinese leadership intends to pursue a constructive policy in its relations with Washington."
But Jiang and Putin did not talk about Bush's missile plans at length as Russia and China held periodic consultations on strategic stability and missile defenses, he said.
The meeting was the first of three planned for this year as Moscow and Beijing, former rivals for leadership of the Communist world, forge a new alliance based largely on fears of Islamic separatist unrest and on opposition to US policies.
Kremlin officials said on Wednesday that Bush's defense plan posed a threat to global security, backing up China's frequent warnings that the plan could trigger a new global arms race.
Russia has proposed a system based on tactical missiles and open to all nations, but China is unlikely to support this for fear it could be used to protect Taiwan.
"Any proposals would have to be studied, but I must stress that China and Russia hold relatively the same position on the American plan to develop missile defenses," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi (孫玉璽) said in Beijing. "We take this stance in order to maintain world security and global strategic stability, and to promote continued disarmament and arms control to avoid a news arms race."
Authorities have thrown a tight security net around Shanghai for the summit, only revealing the meeting's venue to reporters late on Wednesday. The summit is seen as a test of China's ability to hold a large international event as it campaigns for the 2008 Olympics.
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