The governments of Russia and China both announced Monday that the two countries will extend the 20-year-old “Treaty of Friendship” between them.
The 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship outlines a plan for peace as well as economic and geopolitical cooperation between the two nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that the treaty, set to expire in February 2022, will be renewed for an additional five years thereafter.
Russia, China extend friendship and cooperation treaty -Kremlin https://t.co/7qr2EmmYLb pic.twitter.com/NaHyktXrsg
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 28, 2021
“In the context of increasing geopolitical turbulence, the dismantlement of arms control agreements and increased potential for conflict in different corners of the world, Russian-Chinese coordination plays a stabilizing role in world affairs,” the Kremlin said on behalf of Putin, according to Reuters.
The agreement affirms Russia’s stance that Taiwan is an “unalienable” part of China and calls for the modernization for Beijing’s armed forces with the help of Russian training and technology. It also originally helped spur the construction of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline which ships oil from Russia to China.
To serve Russia’s ends, the document promotes the investment of Chinese capital into the Russian economy, which was still struggling to recover from the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the time of the treaty’s signing. (RELATED: Nike CEO John Donahoe Pledges Allegiance To China, Says It’s ‘A Brand That Is Of China And For China’)
The document also stresses the importance of cooperation between Russia and China in order for the two to compete economically with the U.S., the European Union and Japan.
Relations between both countries and the United States are tense following the tenure of former President Donald Trump, who created a new emphasis on combatting China and was frequently pressured by opponents to be tougher on Russia. Just weeks before the extension of the treaty, Putin met with President Joe Biden in a highly-anticipated summit in Geneva, Switzerland which covered human rights concerns, cybersecurity and Russian expansionism.
Meanwhile, China continues to crack down on human rights and civil liberties in Xinjiang and Hong Kong despite verbal opposition from U.S. diplomats.