Posted on 06/30/2005 6:41:50 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Russia on Thursday and is expected to bolster ties with Beijing's former rival in hopes of quadrupling their trade turnover to up to $80 billion a year by 2010.
"Sustainable and long-term development of bilateral relations and the eternal friendship between peoples meets the fundamental interests of both countries and serves peace, stability and prosperity in the world at large," Hu was quoted as saying upon arrival in Moscow by the Interfax news agency.
Hu's trip reflects the strategic importance Beijing places on ties with its giant neighbor. He said his talks with President Vladimir Putin would likely "push our relations of strategic partnership forward," according to an interview carried by the ITAR-Tass news agency.
Hu and Putin were to sign a declaration reaffirming their nations' call for respecting international law and establishing a stronger U.N. role internationally, a Kremlin official said on condition of anonymity.
After decades of rivalry, Moscow and Beijing have developed what they call a strategic partnership since the 1991 Soviet collapse. They have pledged their adherence to a "multipolar world," a term referring to their opposition to the perceived domination of the United States in global affairs.
The two leaders were also expected to speak out against attempts to monopolize decision-making in international affairs and "impose models of social development from outside," the Kremlin official said Thursday.
While Russia and the United States remain allies in the war against terror, Moscow has bristled at Washington's concerns about alleged backtracking on democracy under Putin.
Some Russian officials and lawmakers have accused the United States of instigating regime change in the past 18 months in the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine and, most recently, Kyrgyzstan. The Bush administration denies the claim.
Moscow and Beijing dominate the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security grouping that also includes the four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov, who has drawn Western criticism for his government's bloody suppression of a May uprising, has found staunch support in Russia and China.
China and Russia have been concerned about increased U.S. influence in Central Asia since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which led to American troops' deployment in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for operations in neighboring Afghanistan.
Russia and China are due to hold their first joint military maneuvers -- an exercise seen by many observers as Russia's response to the cooling of relations with the U.S. and other Western nations.
China has purchased billions of dollars worth of fighters, missiles, submarines and destroyers from Russia after the Soviet collapse, becoming the No. 1 customer for struggling Russian defense industries. Now it is eager to gain access to Russian oil and gas to fuel its booming economy.
During Putin's visit to China in October, the two nations settled the last of their decades-old border disputes, and China also endorsed Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organization.
Russian-Chinese trade stood at about $20 billion last year, and Hu told the ITAR-Tass news agency that it could reach between $60 billion and $80 billion by 2010.
What's he going to bribe Putin with, one of their Olympic gold medals?
Cash. Or, what's the same thing . . . buying more military goods and all the oil they can pipe into China.
After decades of rivalry, Moscow and Beijing have developed what they call a strategic partnership since the 1991 Soviet collapse. They have pledged their adherence to a "multipolar world," a term referring to their opposition to the perceived domination of the United States in global affairs. . . . China and Russia have been concerned about increased U.S. influence in Central Asia since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which led to American troops' deployment in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for operations in neighboring Afghanistan. . . . They have pledged their adherence to a "multipolar world," a term referring to their opposition to the perceived domination of the United States in global affairs.
How the worm turns.
During the 1971 India/Pakistan Crisis, Nixon was prepared to come to the military support of the Chinese against the Soviets . . . which included providing air support should the two communist giants come to blows. Wonder how the anti-war crowd of the day would have taken to that?
Russia and China were part of the Saddam cause and China has been in bed with NK for some time.
Behold, Gog and Magog.
(Book of Revelation)
?....must be a Chechen Conspiracy!
/KGB
Hu and Putin were to sign a declaration reaffirming their nations' call
for respecting international law and establishing a stronger U.N. role
internationally, a Kremlin official said on condition of anonymity.
After decades of rivalry, Moscow and Beijing have developed what
they call a strategic partnership since the 1991 Soviet collapse. They
have pledged their adherence to a "multipolar world," a term referring
to their opposition to the perceived domination of the United States in
global affairs.
"Behold, Gog and Magog."
You got something there. I believe that anyone aiding China today is helping the Devil's army in future years.
ping
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