China’s Foreign Ministry says ties between the countries surpass the Cold Warera political and military alliance
Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik / AFP
In a tense week in the argument between Russia and Ukrainein the face of threats from Wladimir Putin and the West’s decision to send new weapons to help the eastern European country defend itself, China, which has already sided with Russia but has also been neutral in the conflict, has ramped up its rhetoric of support for Russia. “An important lesson to be learned from the success of SinoRussian relations is that both sides are moving beyond the era of the political and military alliance model Cold WarForeign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a news conference.
This position is a constant criticism of US cooperation with blocs such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). According to him, Moscow and Beijing are committed to “developing a new model of international relations.” This model involves not causing confrontation or attacking other nations, Zhao said at a briefing in Beijing on Friday. “This is fundamentally different from the Cold War mentality behind some countries’ efforts at cliques and zerosum games,” he said. Despite the Chinese statements, there is no evidence that they have ever militarily aided Russia, however rhetorical they may be in repeating Russian conspiracy theories.