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Russian President arrives in China with focus on Syria and security

June 5, 2012   ·   298537 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2Frussian-president-arrives-in-china-with-focus-on-syria-and-security-29853Russian+President+arrives+in+China+with+focus+on+Syria+and+security2012-06-05+07%3A39%3A41Qalinle+Husseinhttp%3A%2F%2Fsomalilandpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D29853

Russian President Vladimir Putin is greeted by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun upon his arrival in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2012. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for talks that were expected to focus on Syria, bilateral energy cooperation, and other international issues.

Putin was scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday before attending a two-day leaders’ summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization from Wednesday.

Putin and Hu also planned to attend the signing of several bilateral agreements covering energy, industrial cooperation and high-technology later on Tuesday.

Close diplomatic cooperation between China and Russia had helped to promote “constructive response to the most difficult and urgent issues” by the international community, Putin said ahead of his visit.

Those international issues included Syria, Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa, North Korea and Iran, Putin said in an article published on Tuesday in People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper.

“There is a strategic cooperative relationship between China and Russia on the Syria issue,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations specialist at People’s University in Beijing.

“The attitude of Russia is an important factor for China’s voting (in the UN Security Council),” Shi told DPA.

Putin said the two nations were on track to meet their target of increasing bilateral trade to $US100 billion ($A103.24 billion) by 2015, and to $US200 billion by 2020, up from $US83.5 billion last year.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said said Putin’s visit “carries great weight” and would move Sino-Russian relations “into a higher gear.”

China and Russia are “active agents of tilting balance towards a multipolar world and expediting the rise of new political and economic orders,” the commentary said.

“Both countries oppose the Cold War-style alliance and seek to build a new-style partnership based on equality and mutual respect,” it said.

China and Russia last year vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions that sought to condemn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government for severe human rights abuses.

But this year they voted in favour of UN envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan, including the April 12 ceasefire and deployment of unarmed UN military observers to monitor it.

China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Li Baodong, on Monday called for an independent investigation of the massacre in Syria’s Houla town where more than 100 people and children were killed last week.

Li said China, which has opposed any international intervention in Syria, “respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.”

Shi said China was likely to vote for any Security Council resolution for tougher sanctions against Syria if a UN investigation proved that the government was behind the Houla massacre.

Nine News (Australia)

June 5, 2012

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By Qalinle Hussein

Tags: Beijing, China, Cold war, Hu Jintao, Human Rights, NATO, Putin, Russia, Syria