Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced that he planned to visit China in May, his first visit to an overseas country since he was re-elected as President as he begins his next term on May 7. He announced the plans at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, but did not reveal more details.
In March, the 71-year-old Russian leader secured his fifth term in office in a vote with no real opposition, extending his 24-year rule. Putin's inauguration is scheduled for May 7, Russian lawmakers said earlier this week. Russia's growing economic and diplomatic isolation because of its war against Ukraine has made it increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the Communist bloc during the Cold War.
Putin signed a "no limits" partnership agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February 2022 less than three weeks before sending his troops into Ukraine. Diplomatic and trade ties between Moscow and Beijing have swelled as China surged sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in the conflict.
China has repeatedly said it isn't providing Russia with arms or military assistance, although it has maintained robust economic connections with Moscow. Beijing has not provided direct lethal military support for Russia and has sought to project itself as neutral in the Ukraine conflict, but has also refused to condemn the Russia-Ukraine war, which has entered its third year.
China has also proposed a peace plan that was largely dismissed by Ukraine's allies, who insisted that Moscow must withdraw its forces from the neighbouring country as a condition for peace. The Chinese government has also denounced Western sanctions against Moscow and accused NATO and the United States of provoking Putin's invasion.
Blinken's visit to China
Putin's announcement came shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Beijing, where he met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi after Washington angered China by passing a $8 billion package aimed to counter Chinese threats in the Indo-Pacific, along with defence aid for Taiwan. Wang on Friday accused the US of suppressing China's development in the meeting with Blinken.
As the pair settled into their opening session, Wang told Blinken that the "giant ship" of the China-US relationship had stabilised, "but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building. And the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China's legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges."
Blinken replied that "active diplomacy" was needed to move forward with the agenda set by President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping when they met in San Francisco in November. "There's no substitute in our judgement for face-to-face diplomacy," he said, adding that he wanted to ensure that "we're as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences, at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations".
US State Department officials signalled ahead of the sessions that China's support for Russia would feature strongly, saying that Washington is prepared to act against Chinese companies that have been helping retool and resupply Russia's defence industry. Despite increasing high-level exchanges and working groups tackling issues such as enhanced military communication and global trade, stark differences remain.
China criticises US aid for Taiwan
Wang laid out China's position, saying the US must not step on "red lines" covering sovereignty, security and development interests - an apparent reference to Taiwan, the democratically-governed island that China claims as its own, and the disputed South China Sea. Beijing claims Taiwan is a purely internal matter and the most important and sensitive issue in relations with the United States.
After the US passed the package announcing defence aid for Taiwan, China's Taiwan Affairs Office expressed anger at the bills, saying it "seriously violates" US commitments to China and "sends a wrong signal to the Taiwan independence separatist forces". "We urge the United States to take concrete actions to fulfil its commitment not to support Taiwan independence and to stop arming Taiwan in any way," said spokesperson Zhu Fenglian.
Blinken met local government officials on the first day of his visit to China and urged Beijing to provide a level playing field for American businesses, as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen signalled that the Biden administration was not taking any options off the table to respond to China's excess industrial capacity.
(with inputs from agencies)
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