After a Thursday dedicated to reaffirming in Beijing the harmony between Russia and China and certifying with the signing of a joint declaration that relations between both countries have reached their “highest” point; after announcing collaboration in all types of fields – from artificial intelligence to lunar exploration, including the military domain – and accusing the United States of still thinking “in terms of the Cold War” and of taking a “destructive and hostile” course “Aimed at the containment of both, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, went this Friday, the second day of his official visit to the Asian giant, to Heilongjiang, a province located in northeastern China, bordering Russia, and where the trace of this country continues to be intense.
This second act of the trip has taken on a cultural and economic aspect; It is framed in the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Moscow, and Putin has traveled to the capital of the region, Harbin, now without his counterpart, Xi Jinping, with whom he spent a good part of Thursday – there were formal meetings with both their teams, a walk and tea alone on the edge of a lake, a concert and also an informal dinner with their closest collaborators.
Once known as “Little Moscow”, the city of Harbin has a past linked to Russia since the late 19th century. It has welcomed numerous expatriates from this country and maintains a historical link still distinguishable in architectural elements, such as the domes of the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia.
Putin, who was received and accompanied in Harbin by the Chinese vice president, Han Zheng, started the visit by placing a wreath of flowers at the monument dedicated to the Soviet soldiers who fell alongside the Chinese in the battles against the Japanese during the Second World War. Chinese-Japanese (1937-1945), when Japan occupied parts of China. The Russian leader’s agenda has included the opening of the 8th Russian-China Expo and the 4th Russian-Chinese Forum on Interregional Cooperation, as well as a visit to the Church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an Orthodox temple, and the University Harbin Polytechnic.
Putin has taken advantage of this border location, which was not always peaceful between neighbors, to talk about growing economic ties. He has talked about gas and oil, the great liquidity lifesaver of a Russia that has been involved in war for more than two years. “I am convinced that our strategic alliance [con China] in the energy sector, which has become a reliable support for the entire world energy market, continues to strengthen,” he assured at the opening ceremony of the Russian-China Expo and the Interregional Cooperation Forum, as reported by the Russian agency. Tass.
Analysts expected from this trip that the Russian leader would try to advance a possible agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which has been in the negotiation phase for years, and would pump gas to China through Mongolia. In Harbin, the Russian leader highlighted the ability of both countries to “undertake the most challenging projects together” and “execute ambitious plans.” In the negotiations with Xi, he added, “the prospects for this multifaceted cooperation” have been discussed, according to Tass.
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Putin has also praised trade exchanges between Moscow and Beijing that exceeded $240 billion (221.56 billion euros) in 2023, 26.4% more than the previous year, when they had already increased by more than 34%. “This is far from the limit,” Putin said.
Russia’s disconnection from much of the world since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has also meant a rapprochement with China that the West is wary of. “It is necessary to redouble efforts to restrict the delivery to Russia of dual-use products that end up on the battlefield,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last week at the end of a trilateral meeting with the Chinese leader and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
It is to be hoped that the declaration sealed on Thursday between Putin and Xi will add another shovel to the mountain of distrust in Brussels and, especially, Washington. The extensive text, of more than 12,000 characters in its Chinese version, is especially critical of the North American country, which they accuse of trying to “undermine strategic stability to maintain its absolute military superiority.”
The pact condemns what it considers a US missile deployment that threatens Russia and China, and the widespread use of the US nuclear umbrella among its allies in the environment, such as Australia; They also attack the so-called Aukus, the military pact sealed with this country and the United Kingdom, and condemn what they consider Washington’s growing military presence in the Asia-Pacific. Moscow and Beijing “will strengthen coordination and cooperation to confront the hostile and destructive course of the so-called double containment policy of the United States towards China and Russia,” the statement states.
“Both sides oppose the creation of a closed and exclusive bloc structure in Asia and the Pacific, especially a military alliance against third parties,” the statement added. “NATO’s destructive moves in the region,” he concludes, “have had a negative impact on peace and stability.”
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