Beijing’s “friendship” with Moscow is “growing day by day,” China’s President Xi Jinping said ahead of his three-day trip to Russia, which kicked off Monday.
In an op-ed, published in Russian in Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Sunday evening, Xi said he was traveling to Moscow to strengthen “friendship, cooperation and peace” and create “new prospects for Sino-Russia relations.” He continued: “Our two sides are implementing the concept of friendship passed down from generation to generation, and this traditional friendship is growing day by day.”
Notably, though, the English-language version of Xi’s op-ed published by China’s state-run People’s Daily doesn’t mention the effusive “day-by-day” line, and more demurely says: “Our two sides have acted on the vision of lasting friendship and steadily strengthened our traditional friendship.”
In his own synchronized opinion piece published in Mandarin on People’s Daily, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sino-Russia relations are now at the “highest level” in history. In an indirect rebuke to the narrative that Russia has become China’s junior partner, in part because of its growing isolation after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin asserted: “There is no leader and follower, there are no restrictions or forbidden topics.”
Beijing, which committed to a “no-limits partnership” with Moscow just two days before Russia launched its brutal assault on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is among the Kremlin’s top remaining allies on the world stage.
But Xi’s trip to Russia — his first since the war began — also comes as Beijing is seeking to position itself as a peace broker, after issuing a 12-point peace plan last month.
The West has accused Beijing of not being an honest broker. Chinese and Russian armed forces have teamed up for joint exercises, including recently holding naval drills together with Iran in the Gulf of Oman. And POLITICO reported last week that Chinese companies, including at least one connected to the government, have sent Russian entities assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor.
On Monday, Beijing backed Moscow further, with foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reportedly urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “respect the immunity of heads of state from jurisdiction under international law.”
The comment came after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. Under the warrant, the countries that have ratified the ICC’s statutes are required to arrest Putin and hand him over to The Hague court if he arrives on their soil. Moscow has said it does not recognize the court’s authority.
In their synchronized opinion pieces, Xi and Putin also boasted about the increase in trade between China and Russia, which both say reached a record high in 2022 — mostly thanks to rising energy exports from Russia since the war, after the West issued sanctions against the country’s energy sector.
