People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s dedication to its relationship with Russia during a June 15 phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese state-owned media reported. It was Xi’s 69th birthday.
China and Russia reported different accounts of President Xi’s birthday call with Putin, as both leaders look to influence attitudes toward their relationship after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
According to Chinese state media, Xi said, “China is willing to work with Russia to continue supporting each other on their respective core interests concerning sovereignty and security, as well as on their major concerns, deepening their strategic coordination, and strengthening communication and coordination in such important international and regional organizations as the United Nations, the BRICS mechanism, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”
The Kremlin statement said the two 69-year-old men discussed expanding the economic, military-technical, and trade ties between China and Russia. The Russian statement also implied that Xi endorsed Putin’s justification for invading Ukraine. The announcement quoted Xi as supporting the “legitimacy of Russia’s actions in protecting its fundamental national interests in the face of security challenges created by external forces.”
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, however, reported that Xi “actively promoted world peace and the stability of the global economic order” during the talk. He encouraged “a proper settlement to the Ukraine crisis in a responsible manner,” the report added, without mentioning boosting military or trade links with Russia.
CCTV also reported that Xi stated that China was ready to work with Russia to promote alliances with developing nations to influence the global order to benefit their two countries.
“The Chinese side stands ready to work with the Russian side to push for steady and long-term development of practical bilateral cooperation,” Xi said according to CCTV.
The alliance between Beijing and Moscow has become increasingly problematic to Western officials since Xi and Putin announced a “no limits” partnership on February 4.
Since then, Xi has not condoned international sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine. China has consistently argued that international economic measures against Russia are inappropriate, thus supplying Russia with an essential financial link to Chinese markets.
China continues to censor discussions of the war on Chinese social media, echoing the Russian posture that it is a “special military operation.”
The Epoch Times reports that Russia has declared its support for China’s claims on Taiwan and has stated that it opposes international attempts to influence ongoing events in Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.
The conversation between Xi and Putin comes less than a week after Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe threatened to start a war over the issue of independence for Taiwan. According to FP, Wei declared it would be “a path to death” if Taiwan claimed autonomy from China.