On a two-day visit to Beijing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Chinese Foreign MInister Wang Yi. While their discussion undoubtedly dealt with the situation in Iran and Ukraine, Lavrov also underlined the serious tensions arising in the Asia-Pacific region.
“If we talk about the eastern part of the Eurasian continent, very dangerous games are also ongoing. Both on the Taiwan issue and the South China Sea, the situation is escalating on the Korean Peninsula and in what has long been a space of cooperation and good-neighborliness, the so-called ASEAN-centric space. They are trying to dismantle it by creating small-geometry, bloc-like structures to contain both the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation,” Lavrov stated.
He underlined the fact that the entire continent requires constant attention and noted the importance of President Xi Jinping’s proposal for a Global Security Initiative and President Vladimir Putin’s call for a Greater Eurasian Partnership and a Eurasian security architecture.
Wang Yi said that, faced with a complex and ever-changing external environment, under the personal care and strategic guidance of President Xi and President Putin, China-Russia relations remain steadfast despite external obstacles, and that cooperation in various fields has remained strong despite numerous challenges. The two sides coordinate and support each other on the international stage, demonstrating to the world that there is still righteousness amidst adversity and greater responsibility amidst change.
