Beijing | Chinese President Xi Jinping denounced “economic coercion” and “bloc confrontation” on Wednesday at the opening of the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, attended by his Russian ally Vladimir Putin.
“We are against unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and the dismantling of economic relations,” the head of state said in a speech.
Against the backdrop of tensions with Beijing, some political leaders in Europe and the United States have been advocating for “decoupling” from China for several months, that is, cutting off all economic ties with the Asian giant or at least limiting their dependence.
China is welcoming representatives from around 130 countries to the New Silk Roads Forum (officially called “Belt and Road”) until Wednesday.
A major diplomatic event whose guest of honor is the Russian President, making his first trip to a major world power since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which isolated Russia on the international stage.
Beijing will not engage in “an ideological confrontation, geopolitical games or bloc confrontation,” Xi Jinping assured on Wednesday.
“Seeing others’ development as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk will neither improve everyone’s lives nor accelerate their development,” he added.
“Fair cooperation”
Moscow and Beijing “share the desire for fair cooperation in the world,” Vladimir Putin said in a speech immediately after Xi Jinping’s speech.
Photo AFP
Russia, heavily sanctioned by the West for its offensive against Ukraine, is seeking to strengthen its already very close ties with China, which appears to have gained the upper hand in its bilateral relations – unbalanced since Russia’s weakening due to the war.
Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was present at the forum as the government’s special envoy to China, left the room shortly before Mr. Putin’s speech began, according to journalists on the scene.
In his speech, Xi Jinping defended the New Silk Roads, a massive infrastructure project that Beijing is implementing in around a hundred countries, and asserted that they would “give new impetus to the global economy.”
“The New Silk Roads aim to strengthen political, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity and provide new impetus to the global economy,” he said.
“We firmly believe that only win-win cooperation can make things happen, and do things well,” Xi Jinping added.
And “China is ready to deepen cooperation with Belt and Road partners.”
Putin-Xi interview
MM Putin and Xi met on Tuesday evening at a ceremony to open the summit, shook hands and exchanged a few words. They also took part in a group photo with other leaders.
Photo AFP
A meeting between the two heads of state is planned for Wednesday, at a time when the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is raging.
The two men “will discuss in a friendly and open-hearted manner (…) pressing problems of bilateral practical cooperation and the international agenda,” the Kremlin said.
Western countries have largely supported Israel since October 7, when Hamas militants crossed the border between the Gaza Strip and the Jewish state to massacre more than 1,400 people – most of them civilians.
Washington called on Beijing to use its “influence” to calm the situation in the region, where Israeli retaliatory bombings in Gaza have killed at least 2,750 people, the majority Palestinian civilians, according to local authorities.
In March, China supported the spectacular deal to restore diplomatic relations between Iran – which supports Hamas – and Saudi Arabia.
Beijing will also send its Middle East envoy Zhai Jun to the region this week. According to state television CCTV, he will call for a ceasefire and peace talks.
Russia, which has traditionally enjoyed good relations with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, has called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict.