Considering the United States to be an “aggressive Cold War hegemon” sowing chaos across the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, pledged to forge a “new era of partnership” as the most powerful rivals of Washington. This triggered a reaction by the US, stating that China cannot have strong ties with the West if it keeps fueling Russia in its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Xi and Putin signed a joint statement on Thursday about the “new era”, proclaiming opposition to the US on numerous security issues. The two leaders also shared views on a range of topics, ranging from Taiwan and Ukraine to Ukraine and North Korea, and agreed to cooperate on new peaceful nuclear technologies and finance.
However, China’s growing “no-limit friendship” with Russia drew significant criticism from the US as the Western nation has been against Moscow ever since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, resulting in Washington putting numerous sanctions on the Kremlin. Speaking at a daily press conference, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel affirmed, “China can’t have its cake and eat it too”. The US spokesperson clarified that the US will not tolerate China having stronger, deeper relationships with the West, while simultaneously continuing to fuel the biggest threat to European security, Russia.
The US maintained that China fuelling Russia’s defense base similar to that of its own defense base not only threatens Ukraine’s security but the West’s too. However, unbothered about ruining its already volatile ties with the US, Xi told Putin that the relationship between the countries is “hard-earned”, and the two sides need to cherish and nurture the same. The Chinese president also told Russia that it is willing to jointly achieve the development and rejuvenation of both respective nations.
Both, Russia, which is waging war with NATO-backed Ukrainian forces, and China, pressurized by the US’ dominance, growing military, and economic strength, have increasingly found common geopolitical causes to stand together on the world stage.
On the contrary, the US believes China to be its biggest competitor and Russia its biggest nation-state threat. Considering the leaders of both nations, the US views both to be “authoritarian” who have quashed free speech and exerted tight control over the media and the judiciary. Biden referred to Xi as a “dictator” and Putin a “killer”.
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