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On September 10, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wang Yi, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee, met with Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Shoigu.
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Wang Yi's visit to Russia this time is not an ordinary foreign visit. You know, just the day before, the Chinese Navy also participated in Russia's "Ocean-2024" strategic exercises. The exercise began on September 10 and lasted until the 16th.
On September 9, the Chinese Navy's "Northern United-2024" exercise formation entered the Sea of Japan to join Russia's participating forces. They plan to conduct joint exercises in the relevant sea and air spaces in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, and then organize their fifth joint maritime patrol in the relevant waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The significance of this military exercise is not small. In particular, the exercises held in the Sea of Okhotsk show that China and Russia are fulfilling their commitments with concrete actions and supporting each other in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial security.
Against this backdrop, Director Wang Yi came to St. Petersburg to attend the 14th BRICS Meeting of High Representatives for National Security Affairs. The meeting, which lasted from September 11 to 12, was attended by Wang Yi upon invitation and held a public meeting with Shoigu.
During the meeting, Wang Yi said something surprising. He pointed out that in the final analysis, the reason why Sino-Russian relations have been able to maintain the momentum of stable and healthy development is because of the rudder of the two heads of state. He also said that the two sides should base themselves on the new starting point of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, maintain exchanges at all levels, implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state, and further consolidate the political and social foundation of permanent good-neighborliness and friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination, and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia.
In this regard, the very rare expression of "permanent good-neighborliness and friendship between China and Russia" deserves our attention. It's not a common term, and to use it to describe Sino-Russian relations is clearly sending a strong signal that Sino-Russian relations are likely to reach a new level.
From an economic point of view, Sino-Russian relations are indeed developing steadily. According to the data, in the first eight months of 2024, the trade volume between China and Russia reached 158.469 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%. This shows that the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is growing further steadily. Under the current complex international economic situation, it is not easy to maintain such a growth rate.
From a political point of view, the focus of the meeting was to pave the way for the upcoming interaction between the Chinese and Russian heads of state, as well as to coordinate communication in advance for the BRICS summit on October 22-24. Director Wang Yi said that China supports Russia's work as the rotating chair of BRICS. This shows that China has a positive attitude towards strengthening cooperation with Russia, as well as cooperation within the framework of BRICS.
From the perspective of the international situation, the current world situation is complex and changeable, especially the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In this context, Director Wang Yi said that on the Russia-Ukraine issue, China has always maintained objectivity and fairness, and gathered more international consensus to promote the political settlement process. This shows China's responsibility as a responsible major country and China's constructive role in international affairs.
It is worth mentioning that not long ago, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned China to "stop supporting Russia" in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, this argument is obviously to confuse the public, shirk the responsibility of the West, and blame China. In fact, China has been working towards a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Putin even expressed the hope that China, India and Brazil can act as mediators to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. China has also made it clear that it will play a constructive role in promoting a negotiated solution to the crisis with the international community.
For Russia, the upcoming BRICS summit is an important opportunity to break the diplomatic blockade of the West. Russia hopes to use the BRICS platform to ensure that it will no longer be completely dominated by the West in the future public opinion war around the issue of peace talks.
For the BRICS, this summit is the first since the expansion of the BRICS, and there are many issues that need to be discussed such as whether to continue the expansion. Against this backdrop, Director Wang Yi's use of the phrase "China-Russia permanent good-neighborliness and friendship" is undoubtedly sending a clear signal to the international community that China-Russia relations are as stable as Mount Tai and will not be shaken by external pressure.
Of course, we can't ignore some potential challenges. For example, when Lai Ching-te, the leader of the Taiwan region, recently took charge of Sino-Russian relations when he was in office for 100 days, trying to stir up peace and provoke trouble.
In response, Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova pointed out that the Sino-Russian territorial dispute has been resolved, Russia has always adhered to the one-China principle, regards the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China, and Taiwan has no right to speak on behalf of Chinese mainland, and warned Taipei not to overestimate its own status. This response once again demonstrates the solidity of Sino-Russian relations.
Judging from Director Wang Yi's remarks, China is willing to strengthen strategic communication with Russia, give full play to the role of the China-Russia Strategic Security Consultation Mechanism and the BRICS Security Representative Meeting mechanism, and continuously enrich the strategic connotation of China-Russia relations. This means that the relationship between the two countries is likely to be further deepened and expanded on the existing basis.
The two countries are likely to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation, especially in the fields of energy, high technology, and agriculture. As Western sanctions against Russia continue, Russia may become more dependent on the Chinese market, which provides more opportunities for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Moreover, the two countries are likely to continue to strengthen joint exercises and military-technical cooperation. The Great Ocean 2024 strategic exercise and the Northern Joint 2024 exercise are just the beginning, and there may be more similar cooperation in the future.
China and Russia are also likely to further coordinate their positions and make more concerted voices on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations and BRICS. In particular, in response to Western pressure and promoting a multipolar world pattern, the cooperation between the two countries may become even closer.
Therefore, Director Wang Yi's use of the rare expression "permanent good-neighborliness and friendship between China and Russia" in front of Shoigu this time is not only a high-level summary of the current situation of China-Russia relations, but also a bright prospect for the future development of bilateral relations. The message is that no matter how the international situation changes, China and Russia will stand firmly together, jointly address challenges, safeguard their respective interests, and contribute to world peace and development.
China has always adhered to an independent foreign policy of peace and advocated the development of friendly and cooperative relations with other countries. The deepening of China-Russia relations is aimed at better safeguarding regional and world peace and stability, not targeting or excluding anyone.
Let us hope that, under the guidance of the wisdom of the leaders of the two countries, China-Russia relations will continue to maintain the momentum of sound and steady development and make greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
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