On 16 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a highest-level meeting with the heads of state of the mainland on the same day, and the leaders of the two countries made a clear plan for the future strategic cooperation between China and Russia while looking back on Sino-Russian relations. After the meeting, the two heads of state also issued a joint statement of more than 10,000 words and co-chaired a joint press conference. The next day, President Putin took a special plane to Harbin to attend the opening ceremony of the China-Russia Expo held there. At a time when the public opinion circles of China and Russia are imagining the prospects for future cooperation, the United States, which is far away on the other side of the ocean, is very surprised.
According to the news released by the Russian media Sputnik 17, US State Department spokesman Patel threatened at the press conference that if China still wants to maintain relations with Europe and other Western countries, it cannot continue to support Russia, the biggest security threat in Europe. Patel further said that China has played an important role in the restoration of Russia's defense industrial base, and the United States will continue to monitor the region and take "necessary actions." It is worth mentioning that an anonymous official of the State Department revealed to the US media that the State Department's statement is not only the attitude of the United States, but also the position of NATO and the G7 group.
Obviously, the series of achievements brought about by the diplomacy between the heads of state of China and Russia this time have made it difficult for the United States, which has long been bent on containing and suppressing China and Russia, to sleep at ease. The statement clearly pointed out that the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era is not an expedient measure, but conforms to the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples, and the two sides resolutely defend their legitimate rights and interests and oppose any attempt to obstruct the normal development of bilateral relations, interfere in the internal affairs of the two countries, and restrict the economy, technology, and international space of the two countries.
Taking a step back, the "collective position of NATO and the G7 group" in the mouth of the United States is inevitably an exaggeration. Not long ago, at the inauguration ceremony of President Putin, France happened to be a dual member of NATO and the G7 group, and it is a core member of the European Union. As for "supporting Russia's restoration of the defense industry," I'm afraid that even the United States itself will not be able to escape its involvement. Just on the 13th of this month, Biden signed a bill aimed at banning the import of low-enriched uranium originating in Russia.
On the surface, the United States has announced that it wants to use this bill to reduce its dependence on Russia for civilian nuclear energy. However, in fact, this bill sets an exemption policy for the import of Russian low-enriched uranium, which can be terminated on January 1, 2028 at the latest.
Facts have once again proved that the new type of major-country relationship jointly established by China and Russia not only transcends the alliance relationship of the old Cold War era, but also transcends ideology. It is not surprising that the United States is uneasy about this, because this new type of great power relationship has never appeared in the lexicon of hegemonists, who have neither experienced the benefits nor imagined the future that can be constructed through this new type of relationship.
However, one thing is certain: the future Sino-Russian cooperation will be more comprehensive and detailed, and the more the United States tries to obstruct it, the greater the reaction will be. Washington's careerists must realize that the advent of a multipolar world is an unstoppable trend, and that it is a little too self-conscious to use it to intimidate China when the United States "takes sides" and threatens even many small countries to take it seriously.