Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu hailed ties with Moscow during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu in the Kremlin.
In 2018, the U.S. Treasury introduced sanctions against Li Shangfu for allegedly facilitating the transfer of Su-35 fighters and S-400 systems from Russia.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin personally greeted China's State Councilor and Defense Minister Li Shangfu at the Kremlin on Sunday. The defense chief, who happens to be under Russia-linked U.S. sanctions, arrived in Moscow for a three-day visit – his first foreign trip since the appointment last month.
According to the transcript of the meeting shared by the Kremlin, Putin noted the ‘active’ and comprehensive cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the defense sphere, including constant exchange of ‘useful information’, military-technical cooperation, and joint military exercises in various domains.
‘Undoubtedly, this is another crucial area that strengthens the extremely trusting, strategic nature of our relations’, in addition to economic, social, cultural, educational, and other spheres, Putin said.
Li’s tightly-packed trip comes just weeks after Chinese leader Xi Jinping was in Moscow on his first state visit since re-election, where he and Putin vowed to ‘further deepen mutual military trust’ and signed a joint statement declaring that the friendship between the two nations has ‘no limits’.
The newly-appointed Chinese defense chief noted that it was his first foreign visit in the capacity as well, and he purposely chose Russia to further ‘emphasize the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral relations’. He also expressed gratitude to Putin for finding time to meet him on Easter Sunday.
Li noted that Russia-China relations have ‘already entered a new era’ and ‘surpass any military-political alliances of the Cold War’ and are built on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting against third parties.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also attended the meeting, but the Kremlin only revealed only the welcoming remarks and shared no details of private discussions. In his remarks, Putin noted Li’s ‘quite extensive’ plans for the visit, but the Chinese Defense Ministry shared little information about his schedule, besides confirming he is expected to hold talks with multiple high-ranked Russian military officials and visit military academies from April 16th to the 19th.
China has remained neutral in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and has refused to impose sanctions on Moscow or send weapons to either side, instead calling for a peaceful resolution to the hostilities. Nevertheless, the U.S. has seen the growing relations between Moscow and Beijing as a threat to its geopolitical dominance, as stated last week by CIA director William Burns.
China’s National People’s Congress appointed General Li Shangfu as the country’s defense minister last month, at a time of growing confrontation with the U.S. and rising tensions over Taiwan. In 2018, the U.S. blacklisted Li as the then-head of the Equipment Development Department for ‘engaging in significant transactions with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms export entity’”. -RT
Both driven by a desire to counterbalance U.S. dominance worldwide, Moscow and Beijing’s partnership has only evolved further since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 22nd, 2022.
Although China has stated that there is no direct correlation between Ukraine and Taiwan, given that Taiwan is an integral part of China, its silence on Russia’s use of force might suggest a willingness on behalf of Beijing to resort to similar action when it comes to defending its own territorial claims.
And while Ukrainian forces have purportedly found a number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine, China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia.