The Moscow
Times
After Kremlin Talks, China's
Leader Takes Dig at U.S.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/after-kremlin-talks-chinas-leader-takes-dig-at-us/477361.html
In a veiled criticism of the U.S.,
new Chinese President Xi Jinping has denounced foreign governments that meddle
in the domestic affairs of other countries, adopting rhetoric favored by
President Vladimir Putin as he wrapped up his first foreign trip in Moscow.
Xi, who underscored China's
intentions to pursue a closer strategic partnership with Russia during
his two-day visit, which ended Saturday, also oversaw the signing of 35
agreements, many of which focused on energy.
"We must respect the right of each country in the world
to independently choose its path of development and oppose interference in the
internal affairs of other countries," Xi said Saturday during a speech at
the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, news agencies reported.
The school, known as
MGIMO, is a training ground for future diplomats and includes former Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov among its professors.
While the Chinese
president did not mention any country by name, both China
and Russia, permanent UN
Security Council members with veto power, have opposed the influence of the U.S. and NATO and have blocked three draft
resolutions on Syria.
"The
Chinese-Russian relationship is among the most important bilateral
relationships in the world. Not only does it correspond to our interests, but
it also guarantees the world balance," Xi said.
During his visit, Xi also met with President Vladimir Putin
and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Chinese President spent seven hours
with Putin, calling their meeting "productive." Xi described Putin as
his "old, good friend" and said the decision to make Russia his
first foreign visit was a sign of the "strong and special nature" of
Chinese-Russian ties.
Xi and Putin affirmed their intention to champion
nonintervention and multipolarity on an international level.
Both country's presidents presided over the signing ceremony
of a memorandum between Gazprom and Chinese CNPC to supply gas to China. The
project, expected to start in 2018, will see Russia supply 38 billion cubic
meters of gas annually, with a possibility to increase the amount up to 60
billion bcm, Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said.
The two sides also signed agreements to cooperate on the
construction of an oil refinery in the Chinese port city of Tianjin.
Igor Sechin, chief of the state-controlled Rosneft, said the
company would boost oil deliveries. "We could achieve a level of 50
million tons," he told Rossia-24 television on Saturday, referring to
annual deliveries.
Sechin said the company currently supplies 15 million tons
of oil annually to China,
which desperately needs energy for its growing economy.
On Friday, Rosneft signed an agreement with the Chinese
Development Bank for an additional loan of $2 billion for oil exports over a
25-year period. In 2009, Rosneft received a $25 billion loan under a separate
agreement with the Chinese side.
Another deal, worth $2 billion, was concluded by En+ Group,
Shenhua Group and China Development Bank to develop coal resources in eastern
Russia, En+ Group said Friday.
Bilateral trade rose 11.2 percent last year, hitting a
record high of $88.2 billion, and Xi's visit was accompanied by a pledge to
increase trade to $100 billion by 2015 and $200 billion by 2020, a statement on
the Kremlin's website said. China
is already Russia's
largest trading partner.
Russia
and China,
which during the Soviet times engaged in a short-lived military conflict in a
border dispute over the Damansky island, now describe their relationship as
strategic. Both countries have joined forces against foreign intervention in Syria's bloody civil war and pushed for
restraint in addressing Iran's
and North Korea's nuclear
ambitions, positions that have often put them at loggerheads with the U.S. and its
European allies.
Xi emphasized while meeting with Putin on Friday that
"political support will be increased" as relations continue to
improve.
Theodore Karasik, an analyst with the Dubai-based Enigma
think tank, said security interests, such as what will happen after U.S.-led
forces withdraw from Afghanistan
next year, play a key role in the relationship between the two countries.
"Although the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization is just beginning to function, by 2015, the
organization must be a buttress against any threats from the south," he
said, referring to the Russia- and China-led security body.