China and Russia pledged to further deepen their already “no limits” partnership in a joint statement published ahead of Russia’s military parade yesterday, as the two sides stressed the importance of maintaining the “correct view” of World War II history.
In a lengthy statement published during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to Moscow for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of the World War II, which Russia celebrates on 9 May as Victory Day, Xi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said “certain countries ... are attempting to tamper with the results of the victory of World War II.”
Xi is on his 11th visit to Russia since becoming president in 2013. On Thursday, Xi and Putin held nearly four hours of talks in which both leaders described the other as a close friend. Putin announced plans to visit China in the autumn for the commemoration of Japan’s defeat in World War II.
Photo: AP
The Xi-Putin statement went further than previous ones in directly condemning the US.
“The United States and its allies are trying to promote NATO’s eastward expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, build ‘small circles’ in the Asia-Pacific region and win over countries in the region to promote their ‘Indo-Pacific strategy,’ undermining regional peace, stability and prosperity,” the statement said.
The statement also said that “unilateral coercive measures, including economic sanctions, that bypass the UN Security Council violate the UN Charter and other international laws and undermine international security interests.”
This week’s meeting of the Chinese and Russian leaders underscores the close relationship between the two men who see themselves as a bulwark against US hegemony
Earlier this week, Xi claimed that World War II also represented the “liberation” of Taiwan and marked “Taiwan’s return to China.”
The joint Xi-Putin statement stated that Russia “firmly supports the measures taken by the Chinese government to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and achieve national reunification.”
Although China and Russia do not have a normal military alliance, there are growing concerns in the West about the close security cooperation between the two countries. China and Russia conducted 14 joint military exercises last year, according to data compiled by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies’ ChinaPower project, which tracks military and economic developments.
A Chinese honor guard participated in yesterday’s military parade in Moscow for the first time since 2015.
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
POLITICAL PATRIARCHS: Recent clashes between Thailand and Cambodia are driven by an escalating feud between rival political families, analysts say The dispute over Thailand and Cambodia’s contested border, which dates back more than a century to disagreements over colonial-era maps, has broken into conflict before. However, the most recent clashes, which erupted on Thursday, have been fueled by another factor: a bitter feud between two powerful political patriarchs. Cambodian Senate President and former prime minister Hun Sen, 72, and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, were once such close friends that they reportedly called one another brothers. Hun Sen has, over the years, supported Thaksin’s family during their long-running power struggle with Thailand’s military. Thaksin and his sister Yingluck stayed
‘ARBITRARY’ CASE: Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila has maintained his innocence and called the country’s courts an instrument of oppression Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) president Joseph Kabila went on trial in absentia on Friday on charges including treason over alleged support for Rwanda-backed militants, an AFP reporter at the court said. Kabila, who has lived outside the DR Congo for two years, stands accused at a military court of plotting to overthrow the government of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi — a charge that could yield a death sentence. He also faces charges including homicide, torture and rape linked to the anti-government force M23, the charge sheet said. Other charges include “taking part in an insurrection movement,” “crime against the
POINTING FINGERS: The two countries have accused each other of firing first, with Bangkok accusing Phnom Penh of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis yesterday. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported that one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and
RSS