Sunday’s meeting between senior officials saw Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warning against the ‘law of the jungle’
Donald Trump’s repeated threats against Greenland and rising tensions with Iran may have been a factor in the latest round of talks between China and Russia, according to Chinese observers.
On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Sergei Shoigu, the head of the Russian Security Council, met in Beijing, where according to the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang warned of the danger of the world lapsing into the “law of the jungle”.
“China and Russia should maintain close communication on major issues concerning bilateral relations, increase mutual support on issues involving each other’s core interests, and protect their respective and shared interests,” Wang said.
While not explicitly mentioning the US, Chinese officials have used similar language to describe Trump’s threats against Greenland and the attack on Venezuela last month.
“The recent changes in [Greenland, Iran and Ukraine] have increased the necessity of this communication and will also become an important part of it,” Cui Hongjian, head of European Union studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said.
Wang told Shoigu that Beijing was willing to work with Moscow to “open up new horizons” this year.
The pair last met in Moscow in December, where both sides reached a “high degree” of strategic consensus on issues related to Japan and jointly opposed the revival of “Japanese militarism”.
On Sunday, Shoigu again highlighted Russia’s “consistent and unwavering” support for Beijing on Taiwan, adding that it was “closely monitoring Japan’s policy of accelerated militarisation”.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing in November, when she said that any attack on the island would be a security threat to Japan that may prompt military intervention.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China and has never ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control.
Most countries, including Russia and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. The United States, Taiwan’s main international partner, shares that stance but opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons to defend itself.
Shoigu said Western countries had “made it a rule to justify their actions by the Russian and Chinese threat”, according to the Russian Security Council.
“The West is dreaming of sowing discord in the strategic alliance between our countries … Moscow and Beijing will not sit idly by and tolerate any biased insinuations,” he said.
Cui said such talks between the two strategic partners were particularly important given the delicate state of major-power relations today.
“In my view, the current push among major powers to strengthen strategic communication is aimed at further reducing risks … We all know that political miscalculations between major powers could worsen relations and likely escalate global instability and risks,” he said.
Zhang Xin, an international relations professor at East China Normal University, said the two sides’ main interest was “aligning positions on major international issues”.
“This visit by Shoigu is also due to recent significant changes in the international geopolitical landscape, including developments in Ukraine and Greenland,” Zhang said.
Wang’s meeting with Shoigu followed Trump’s repeated comments that the US should annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
Trump said last month that the island was under active pressure from Russia and China, although Denmark has insisted there was no threat “today”.
Meanwhile, Russia, Ukraine and the United States held their first three-way talks in the United Arab Emirates last week since the start of the war nearly four years ago and are planning further talks next weekend.
While Ukraine was probably one of the main topics in Wang and Shoigu’s meeting, the two might have also discussed Iran extensively, according to Cui.
“Over the past couple of days, the situation in Iran has not yet fully stabilised, and there has been speculation that Trump’s next target might be Iran. If that were to happen, it could affect both China and Russia.”
Iran has been rocked by waves of anti-government protests in which thousands are believed to have been killed, and Trump has been threatening military action.
Cui said that for Russia, strengthening strategic communication with China carried profound political and diplomatic significance.
“As long as Russia can maintain such regular strategic dialogue with China, it demonstrates that Russia has not been abandoned by the international community … this is crucial for Russia in breaking through Western isolation.”
Zhang said the most important signal being sent was that China and Russia agree on a series of major strategic issues.
“Specifically regarding the recent events, the fundamental message remains consistent: both China and Russia oppose hegemonism and stand against America’s unilateral actions,” Zhang said.
Additional report by Dewey Sim
