Putin calls Xi his friend, says ties have reached an unprecedented level of mutual trust
The bromance of the century is still going strong.
While Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and Vladimir Putin had a relatively cool and distant in-person meeting in Uzbekistan in September, there does not seem to be any real deterioration in their relationship. During comments before the Valdai International Discussion Club on October 27, Vladimir Putin said:
Russian-Chinese relations [have] reached an unprecedented level of openness, mutual trust and effectiveness in recent decades… In military technology, we have enjoyed a level of trust previously unseen in the history of our two countries. My friend Mr. Xi Jinping and I — he has called me his friend and I consider him as such — we have set a goal to reach a specific trade volume level.
China’s Foreign Ministry noted Putin’s comments at its press conference the next day, saying:
We highly appreciate the positive remarks by President Putin on China-Russia relations. Faced with a world of change and disorder, China-Russia relations have maintained the momentum of robust development.
As each other’s largest neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners of coordination for a new era, China and Russia have advanced relations on the principle of non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party with a purpose of promoting the development of the two countries and benefiting the two peoples.
Beijing is not criticizing Moscow for stopping Ukrainian grain shipments
At a press conference on November 1, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚 deflected two questions from Reuters:. With Russia announcing (another) blockade of Ukrainian grain exports last week, a journalist asked if China supported Ukraine’s grain exports. In response, Zhao said “all parties concerned need to stay calm and exercise restraint, prevent further escalation and jointly work for deescalation.” While the grain blockade has been lifted, again, for now, Beijing has not spoken out publicly against the obstruction.
In an additional question from Reuters about Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, Zhao again called for calm and restraint. There is no indication that Beijing is shifting its posture of “pro-Russia neutrality.”
Riyadh moving closer to the Beijing-Moscow axis
Indeed, there are some signs that Beijing is increasing its support for Moscow. China openly sided with OPEC and Russia’s October 5 production cut, as Wáng Yì 王毅 met virtually with the Saudi foreign minister and said China “appreciates Saudi Arabia’s pursuit of an independent energy policy.”
Putin expressed that Russia would formally support Saudi’s accession into BRICS, the group that so far comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In response to a question from Russian state media, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it “actively supports the process of BRICS expansion.”
The bottom line: China, the world’s largest oil importer, is backing the OPEC and Russia production cut despite the damage that higher oil prices will do to its own economy.
