Russia & China: ‘No to sanctions rhetoric, regime change in other countries’
Moscow and Beijing have rejected the imposition of sanctions as political tools and condemned attempts at “encouraging and financing” regime changes in other countries in a joint statement released during President Putin’s official visit to China.
Having faced economic sanctions and threats of more of to come
from the West, Russia has turned to the East, seeking to boost
business ties in a friendlier environment. An impressive package
of deals on energy, business and infrastructure has already been
signed in Shanghai.
More is yet to come, judging by the title of the joint statement
by Beijing and Moscow, which promises “a new stage in
full-scale partnership and strategic relations.”
Boosting mutual trade is not all there is to that “new
stage,” as following the meeting with Xi, the Russian
president shared expectations of closer cooperation between the
countries in international politics.
“We have common priorities on a global and on a regional
scale,” Putin said. “We’ve agreed upon closer
coordination of our foreign policy steps, including those in the
UN, BRICS and APEC,” he added.
Among attitudes Russia and China share is their mutual dislike of
economic restrictions imposed for political reasons.
“The parties stress the necessity to… reject unilateral
sanctions rhetoric,” the joint statement reads.
Economic restrictions applied as punishment are no better than
financial aid to forces that seek “a change in constitutional
system of another country,” the Russian-Chinese statement
says.
Moscow still feels bitter about the role it believes the US
played in the Ukrainian coup. Russia has accused Washington of investing $5 billion in the
regime change in Kiev.
A number of European politicians, meanwhile, acknowledged the EU might have been pressing
Ukraine too hard to sign the integration deal which, according to
German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, could have created
“the impression in Ukraine that it had to decide between
Russia and the EU."
The ongoing political crisis in Ukraine can only be resolved
peacefully, Putin and Xi Jinping believe, calling on political
opponents in Ukraine to switch from confrontation to dialogue.
"The sides urged all Ukrainian regions and public and
political groups to enter in broad nationwide talks, develop
jointly a concept of further constitutional development of the
country, envisaging full observation of universally recognized
rights and freedoms of people," the statement reads.
News rules for cyberspace
Russia and China have called for creation of new “universal
rules of behavior in information space,” citing concerns
over some of communication technologies “running contrary to
international stability and security, damaging countries’
sovereignty and violating personal privacy.”
The ‘rules for internet’ comment comes amid scandal with US and
China trading accusations of online espionage.
On Monday, a grand jury in the United States indicted five Chinese military - allegedly
officers of an elite cyber squad - with hacking into American
computer networks and stealing sensitive business information
from US companies.
China dismissed all US accusations and published proof
that Washington is actually stealing data from China. The Chinese
Foreign Ministry also summoned the American ambassador to China
for an explanation, urging him to drop all charges against
China’s military officers.
