Chinese Defense Minister to Visit Russia for Talks With Military Leaders

Chinese Defense Minister to Visit Russia for Talks With Military Leaders

Aldgra Fredly

China’s defense chief will visit Russia on Sunday for talks with Russian military leaders, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Friday, as the two allies seek to bolster their military alliance on the heels of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu will embark on a four-day visit to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei told reporters.

Li will hold talks with Russian military leaders and visit Russian military academies during his trip there, according to the spokesperson.

“In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the Sino-Russian military relations have continued to operate at a high level,” Tan was quoted as saying by the ministry.

Both sides have made progress in “strategic communication, joint exercises, and practical cooperation, which has continuously enriched the strategic connotation of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era,” he added.

Tan also criticized NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg’s remarks that the transatlantic alliance must deepen its engagement with partners in the Indo-Pacific region amid “the security challenges posed by China.”

“China firmly opposes NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific affairs on the pretext of the so-called ‘China challenge’ to construct the Asia-Pacific version of NATO,” he said in a separate statement.

Li’s visit came after a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 20, during which the two leaders reaffirmed their “no-limits” partnership.

During the meeting, Putin vowed that China and Russia would create a more just “multipolar world order” based on international law “rather than certain rules serving the needs of the golden billion.”

Tan later reaffirmed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) commitment to work with Russia to implement “global security initiatives” to maintain international and regional security while “serving the building of a community of common destiny for mankind.”

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