FMs agree to deepen cooperation, oppose Washington's unilateral moves

Unilateral sanctions and unjustified crackdowns imposed by Washington have drawn strong criticism from both Beijing and Moscow, and were discussed in a phone conversation between State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.

In their second phone conversation since November, Wang said the United States runs counter to this era's trends and frequently threatens and imposes unilateral sanctions, which could only leave it with one of the more disgraceful records in the world.

China is willing to work with Russia and with the global community to staunchly protect the basic norms of international relations and ensure world fairness and justice, Wang said.

During the talks, Lavrov stressed the need to resolutely oppose US moves that sabotage multilateralism and boycott the US crackdown on Russia and China.

The Russian senior diplomat called for championing international law, safeguarding the common interests of the two countries and safeguarding international stability and cooperation. Both Wang and Lavrov noted that next year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and both sides stated their readiness to deepen strategic cooperation and promote each other's development.

Wang said the two countries achieved many hard-won results by helping each other through the COVID-19 pandemic and offering mutual support in pragmatic cooperation.

Also, they led international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, resolutely fought the "politicization of the virus", and jointly safeguarded world and regional security and stability, Wang said.

The great frequency of recent official contacts between the two countries serves as a clear response to the urgency of advancing multilateralism, recovery and justice at a time when the world is still trapped in the pandemic and overshadowed by protectionism, officials and experts said.

Cheng Guoping, the Foreign Ministry's external security commissioner, said the China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, as led by President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, has reached a record high and is a model for a new type of great power relations. The two leaders have engaged in frequent contacts through video links and telephone conversations.

The bilateral relationship manifests strong dynamism and serves as a strong pillar amid a changing global landscape, Cheng said when meeting with Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov on Dec 3.

Denisov said the two sides should bolster policy communication and coordination to jointly tackle shared global and regional security challenges.

The two countries also conducted their second joint aerial patrol in the Asia-Pacific region, the two defense ministries announced on Tuesday. The patrol, part of the annual cooperation plan between the two militaries, does not target any third party, and the warplanes did not enter the territorial airspace of any third country, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.