Sergey Lavrov, the chief diplomat for Russia, commends Beijing for its response to the conflict in Ukraine and notes that the two countries have taken similar stances “in assessing the risks associated with the advance of the West in the Asia-Pacific region”.
Regarding Asian affairs, Russia has stated that it supports China. This includes opposing the US’s efforts to expand its influence and its “deliberate attempts” to inflame the situation around Taiwan.
In an essay that appeared on Thursday in the official daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also commended Beijing’s strategy for handling the conflict in Ukraine, stating that both nations sought to resolve the issues that Moscow claims are at the root of the fighting.
In a letter commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Russia, Lavrov stated that Beijing and Moscow were “in close positions in assessing the risks associated with the advance of the West in the Asia-Pacific region”.
“The United States and its satellites deliberately stir up the situation in the Strait of Taiwan,” stated Lavrov in a letter.
“They are fortifying their links with the island’s government, which goes against their acknowledged ‘One China’ principle. Regarding Taiwan, Russia’s stance has remained constant: it supports China’s territorial integrity at all levels, including the highest ones,” he declared.
Lavrov was alluding to a fundamental tenet of Chinese policy, according to which Taiwan is a part of China.
President Xi Jinping of China has pledged again and time again to subjugate Taiwan to Beijing, even if it means using force.
Taiwan is an essential component of China’s territory, according to Xi, who declared this week in a speech that he will “resolutely oppose any separatist activities seeking ‘Taiwan independence’.” “Complete national reunification (with Taiwan) is an irresistible trend,” he continued, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
US arms supply to Taiwan
US President Joe Biden approved $567 million in defense support for Taiwan last week and Washington remains Taiwan’s most important overseas backer and arms supplier despite in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
China has insisted time and time again that Washington cease supplying Taipei with arms.
Lavrov added that the US and NATO had “fully discredited” the European security system and Euro-Atlantic issues in his remarks to Rossiiskaya Gazeta. A “new architecture for Eurasian security” founded on the idea of “regional solutions for regional problems” was what he advocated for.
Acknowledging China’s “balanced and consistent” approach to the two and a half-year-old conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov stated that its initiatives—which include NATO’s eastward expansion and the establishment of a “anti-Russian military bridgehead in Ukraine”—rightly called for the removal of the conflict’s core causes.
China and Brazil have been advocating for a peace plan that would involve inviting both Russia and Ukraine to a meeting.
The idea has been rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has instead presented his own “victory plan” and Kiev’s insistence on the restoration of Ukraine’s post-Soviet boundaries from 1991.
