Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that the progress in China-Russia relations is attributable to the two countries’ commitment to the five principles of mutual respect, win-win cooperation, lasting friendship, strategic coordination, and fairness and justice.

President Xi made the remarks during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, following their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Describing the talks as “sincere and cordial,” Xi said they had a comprehensive review of the successful experience in developing the China-Russia relationship over the past 75 years since establishing diplomatic ties.

The China-Russia relationship has become a prime example of a new form of international relations as well as good-neighborly relations between two major countries, Xi told reporters.

Non-alliance, non-confrontation, not targeting any third party

President Xi said China and Russia are committed to mutual respect as the fundamental principle of relations and always render support for each other’s core interests.

Xi said he and Putin agree that the key to the two countries finding a new path to growing relations between major and neighboring countries lies in mutual respect and equality, as well as steadfast mutual support on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns.

“This is central to the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era,” he said.

The two sides will uphold the principles of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, Xi added.

China and Russia will continue to deepen two-way political trust, respect each other’s choice of development path, and realize development and revitalization with each other’s firm support, he said.

Win-win cooperation

China and Russia are committed to win-win cooperation as the driving force of relations and work to foster a new paradigm of mutual benefit, Xi said.

Last year, the two-way trade exceeded $240 billion, close to 2.7 times that of a decade ago, he noted. “This is a good indication of the all-round cooperation of mutual benefit that continues to deepen between the two countries.”

Xi stressed that he and Putin agree that the two countries need to look for areas where their interests converge, tap into their comparative strengths, deepen the integration of interests and enable each other’s success.

The two countries need to make further structural improvements to their cooperation, consolidate the good momentum in trade and other traditional areas of cooperation, support the formation of platforms and networks for basic research, continue to unlock cooperation potential in frontier areas, step up cooperation on ports, transportation and logistics, and help keep the global industrial and supply chains stable, he said.

People-to-people and cultural exchanges

President Xi said that China and Russia are committed to lasting friendship as the foundation of relations and carry forward the torch of Sino-Russian friendship.

Both China and Russia have a long history and a splendid culture, he said.

“The works of Pushkin and Tolstoy are household names in China, and Peking Opera and tai chi are much loved by the Russian people,” said Xi.

By focusing on implementing the Roadmap for China-Russia Cooperation on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges Before 2030, the two countries are expanding people-to-people and cultural ties, he said.

Xi and Putin have also set 2024 and 2025 as China-Russia Years of Culture.

The two sides have proposed a series of cultural activities that are down to earth, close to people’s hearts and popular among them, and encouraged closer interactions between various sectors and at subnational levels, so as to enhance mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples, Xi said.

Multipolarity and multilateralism

China and Russia are committed to strategic coordination as an underpinning of relations and steering global governance in the right direction, President Xi stressed.

The two countries are firmly committed to safeguarding the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law, he said.

Xi said China and Russia should stay in close coordination and collaboration on multilateral platforms such as the UN, APEC and G20, and advance multipolarity and economic globalization in the spirit of true multilateralism.

With Russia chairing BRICS this year and China taking over the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization later this year, the two sides will support each other’s chairmanship, build a high-quality partnership that is more comprehensive, close, practical and inclusive, and build the unity and strength of the Global South, he said.

Dedication to political settlement of hotspots

President Xi said China and Russia are committed to fairness and justice as the purpose of relations and dedicated to the political settlement of hotspots.

The Cold War mentality still exists, and unilateralism, hegemonism, bloc confrontation and power politics threaten world peace and the security of all countries, he said.

The two presidents are of the view that it is urgent to solve the Palestine-Israel conflict, he noted.

The UN resolutions must be earnestly implemented, and the question of Palestine must be solved on the basis of the two-state solution, said Xi.

The two sides believe that a political settlement is the right way forward for the Ukraine crisis.

China’s position on the issue is consistent and clear, including observing the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, respecting the legitimate security concerns of all parties, and building a new security architecture that is balanced, effective and sustainable, Xi said.

“China hopes that peace and stability will return to the European continent at an early date and stands ready to play a constructive role to this end,” he said.

On Thursday, the Chinese and Russian presidents also signed and issued the Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era in the Context of the 75th Anniversary of China-Russia Diplomatic Relations.

The leaders also witnessed the signing of a number of intergovernmental and interagency cooperation documents.

Source(s): CGTN

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday hailed relations with Russia as the two countries celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties.

With the concerted efforts of the two sides, China-Russia relations have been moving forward steadily, with enhanced comprehensive strategic coordination and further cooperation on economy and trade, investment, energy and people-to-people exchanges, at the subnational level and in other fields, President Xi said when meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during large-group talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi pointed out that Putin’s trip to China is his first foreign visit since he began his new term as Russian president, fully demonstrating the great importance Putin and the Russian government attach to developing China-Russia relations. China highly appreciates this, the Chinese president said.

Xi said China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and moving faster to foster new quality productive forces through high-quality development, which will add new drivers to global economic growth.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council and major emerging markets, Xi noted. It is the shared strategic choice of both countries to deepen strategic coordination, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and follow the general historical trend of multipolarity in the world and economic globalization, Xi told his Russian counterpart.

Xi said he believes the two sides should take the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties as a new starting point, further synergize development strategies and continue to enrich bilateral cooperation, to bring greater benefits to the two countries and their people.

The Chinese president also expressed his readiness to work with Putin to jointly steer the future direction of bilateral relations and make new plans for cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Source(s)L CGTN

As the Israel-Palestine conflict entered its 222nd day on Wednesday, Palestinians marked the 76th anniversary of Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), the exodus of Palestinians after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands of Palestinians gathered to commemorate the Palestinian victims of 76 years ago and protest against the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza that have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in the enclave.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags, held portraits of Palestinians who were expelled from their homes in 1948, displayed pictures of refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, and carried banners bearing slogans including “The Nakba is recurring in Gaza now.”

Several Palestinian faction leaders and members of the Executive Committees of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Central Committee of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) also attended the rally in Ramallah.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 35,233, health authorities in the Palestinian enclave said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Mahmoud Al-Aloul, a senior Fatah official, said more than 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes since the outbreak of the ongoing conflict, labeling it a “perhaps far more severe Nakba” compared to that of 1948.

He also accused the U.S. administration of being complicit in Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza as it supplied weapons to Israel and vetoed UN resolutions that called for a ceasefire and a full UN membership for Palestine.

For his part, Ahmed Abu Holi, the head of the refugee affairs department of the PLO, stressed the essential role of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and denounced the U.S. and the West at large for suspending UNRWA funding.

In January, Israeli officials claimed that UNRWA personnel took part in the October 7 Hamas attack, which set off the current conflict in Gaza. The allegations remain unverified but prompted the U.S. and many other Western donors to halt the agency’s funding.

Australia, Canada, Germany and several other countries have resumed their funding, whereas the U.S. and Britain continue to hold back their funds.

“Our people need the UNRWA to continue its work in the Gaza Strip because it is the only institution capable of working there,” Abu Holi told Xinhua.

In Gaza, locals said there is no need to mark the Nakba anniversary because they are already living in one.

Mohammed al-Maqadma, a 58-year-old resident of Jabalia refugee camp, said that his parents, survivors of the Nakba 76 years ago, were killed in the recent Israeli strikes on Gaza.

“For the rest of their lives, my parents could not stop talking about their ordeal during Nakba. Now, for how many years will I speak about the new Nakba to our next generations?” al-Maqadma lamented.

Post-war plan

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that he would oppose the establishment of Israel’s rule in the post-war Gaza Strip.

Speaking in a televised press briefing, Gallant urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian or military control over the Gaza Strip, adding that a governing alternative to Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian resistance movement that runs the enclave, must be named by Netanyahu “immediately.”

Gallant said that soon after the beginning of the Israeli conflict with Hamas in October last year, he had tried to promote a plan for a new Palestinian administration unaffiliated with Hamas but “received no response” in cabinet meetings.

In response, Netanyahu said in a statement that “as long as Hamas remains, no other party will run Gaza, certainly not the Palestinian Authority.” He did not address the issue of a possible Israeli rule in the Palestinian enclave.

Source(s): CGTN