China’s Xi highlights ‘world peace’ in New Year message to Russia’s Putin Xi Jinping News
The Chinese leader underlined ‘the rapidly developing changes and turbulent international situation not seen in a century’.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to promote “world peace” in a New Year message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain determined to comprehensively pursue reform and promote world peace and development,” Xi said Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, China has sought to present itself as a neutral party – in contrast to the United States and other Western countries.
But it remains a close political and economic partner of Russia, leading some NATO members to label Beijing a “supporter” of war.
According to CCTV, Xi told Putin: “In the face of rapidly developing changes and turbulent international situation not seen in a century, China and Russia have consistently moved forward hand in hand on the right path of non-alignment, non-alignment.” Confrontation, and not targeting any third party.”
The two presidents have a strong personal relationship, with Xi calling his Russian counterpart his “best friend” and Putin valuing his “trusted partner”.
Their relationship has remained stable despite a decade of rising tensions with the West, exemplified by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to CCTV, Xi told Putin that 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, which “represents a new important milestone in relations between the two countries”.
“After three-quarters of a century of ups and downs, China-Russia relations have become increasingly mature and stable,” Xi said.
‘Everything will be fine’
Russia has strengthened its unity by achieving important goals and overcoming trials and difficulties in the first quarter of the 21st century, Putin said in his New Year address.
“And now, on the threshold of the New Year, we are thinking about the future. We are confident that everything will be fine, we will move forward. We know for sure that the absolute value for us was, is and will be the fate of Russia, the well-being of its citizens, ”he said.
Putin paid tribute to Russian soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine, calling them “true heroes”, but did not go into detail about the status of the conflict or predict how the battlefield situation would evolve in 2025. .
Meanwhile, in his New Year’s speech, Xi said no one could stop China’s “reunification” with Taiwan, warning bluntly that Beijing would attack pro-independence forces inside and outside the island of 23 million people. Accepts as.
“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can break our family bonds, and no one can stop the historical trend of national reunification,” China’s leader said.
Tension remained high throughout the year across the sensitive Taiwan Strait, especially after William Lai Ching-te, considered a “separatist” by Beijing, became the island’s newest president in May.
