Russian-Chinese partnership more extensive than military-political alliance — Lavrov

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. The comprehensive partnership between Russia and China is more than a traditional military-political alliance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday in a video address to the participants of the international conference "Russia and China: Cooperation in a New Era". Lavrov noted that the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, signed in 2001, is based on the generally recognized norms of international law, first and foremost the goals and the principles of the UN Charter. "The document enshrines agreements on mutual support when it comes to protecting state unity and territorial integrity, refusing to use nuclear weapons first and refusing to target strategic weapons against each other. It formulated a principle, which says that the parties should "respect each other's choice for the course of political, economic, social and cultural development". The parties must immediately contact each other if there is a threat of aggression against one of the parties. Third countries are not allowed on our territories in detriment to the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of each other," the minister stressed. "Thus, without creating a formal military-political alliance, we formed a legal basis for the closest coordination on strategically important issues that concern the key interests of our states. Essentially, the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership is more than a traditional military-political alliance," the Russian top diplomat concluded. According to him, the article of the treaty about the lack of mutual territorial claims, which says that both parties "are resolved to make active efforts in building the border between the two countries into one where ever-lasting peace and friendship prevail" are of key importance. "Its inclusion in the text helped fully regulate the so-called border problem, radically improving mutual trust," Lavrov noted. Russian-Chinese treaty The Russian-Chinese Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation remains an effective document which makes it possible to adjust strategic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing to changing realities, Russian Foreign Minister said. "The basic treaty, whose 20th anniversary will be celebrated this July, is a firm foundation of Russian-Chinese relations. We are confident that it will remain an effective, functioning document that makes it possible to develop and fine-tune our strategic cooperation to the changing realities of this new era. An era, which demands from all of us - experts, diplomats and politicians, - constant attention to the new challenges and opportunities, and trends and forecasts," the Russian top diplomat said. The foreign minister reiterated that this document was signed on July 16, 2001, in Moscow, by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Jiang Zemin who was President of the People’s Republic of China at the time. "By turning this new page, the parties expressed the intention to pass down the friendship between their peoples from generation to generation. The nature of bilateral relations of ‘an equal trust-based partnership and strategic interaction’ that was declared earlier at a political level was legally confirmed. Thus, without exaggeration, this historic international legal act documented the formation of a new model of our transnational connections, and their passage to completely new heights," the chief diplomat noted. Read more