What is Putin and Xi's 'new era' strategic partnership?

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on Thursday to deepen their "strategic partnership" while scolding the United States for a series of moves that they said threatened their countries.

Following are the key points of the joint statement, which is 7,000 words long in Russian, on "the deepening of the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation entering a new era."

* Russia and China "are determined to defend their legitimate rights and interests, resist any attempts to hinder the normal development of bilateral ties, interfere in the internal affairs of the two states, and limit the economic, technological or foreign policy potential of Russia and China."

* TAIWAN: Russia "reaffirms its commitment to the principle of 'one China', recognizes that Taiwan is an integral part of China, opposes the independence of Taiwan in any form, and firmly supports the actions of the Chinese Side to protect its own sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as to unify the country.

* UKRAINE: "The Russian side positively assesses China's objective and unbiased position on the Ukrainian issue."

China "supports the efforts of the Russian side to ensure security and stability, national development and prosperity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and opposes outside interference in Russia's internal affairs."

* UNITED STATES: Russia and China have serious concerns at "U.S. attempts to violate the strategic balance":

- U.S. global missile defence and deploying parts of it in regions around the world and in space.

- Developing high-precision non-nuclear weapons for potential “decapitation” strikes

- "Extended nuclear deterrence" with allies including Australia. eg AUKUS

- Plans to deploy ground-based intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF) in the Asia-Pacific and European regions, including their transfer to its allies.

- "The parties strongly condemn these extremely destabilizing steps, which pose a direct threat to the security of Russia and China."

- "The parties oppose the hegemonic attempts of the United States to change the balance of power in Northeast Asia by building up military power and creating military blocs and coalitions."

"The United States still thinks in terms of the Cold War and is guided by the logic of bloc confrontation, putting the security of 'narrow groups' above regional security and stability, which creates a security threat for all countries in the region. The US must abandon this behavior.

*NORTH KOREA: "The parties oppose the actions of intimidation in the military sphere carried out by the United States and its allies, which provoke further confrontation with the DPRK, fraught with armed incidents and escalation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula."

* NUCLEAR WAR: "There can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be fought."

* MARKETS: increase the share of national currencies in bilateral trade; encourage debt issuance in both markets; develop insurance and financial markets.

* INDUSTRY: develop civil aircraft construction, shipbuilding, carmakers, machine tool industry, electronics industry, metallurgy, iron ore mining, chemical industry and forestry.

* AGRICULTURE: expand mutual access of agricultural products, increase the volume of trade in soybeans, pig breeding, water production, grain, fat and oil, fruits and vegetables, nuts and other products.

* TECHNOLOGY: develop cooperation in information and communication technologies, including artificial intelligence, communications, software, Internet of things, open source, network and data security, video games, radio frequency coordination, specialised education and industry research activity.

* ENERGY: "Strive for the stability and sustainability of the global energy market, strengthening value chains in the fuel and energy complex. Develop market-based cooperation in the field of oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal and electricity, ensure the stable operation of relevant cross-border infrastructure and the creation conditions for unimpeded transportation of energy resources."

* NUCLEAR: Deepen partnership in peaceful nuclear energy. Including thermonuclear fusion, fast neutron reactors and the closed nuclear fuel cycle.

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