China wants to enhance “security and strategic coordination” with Russia and other neighboring states to counter American influence on its periphery.
“They even coerce countries into picking sides as part of their attempts to wage the so-called new Cold War,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told media Thursday. “As the world is entering a period of turbulence and change, strong China-Russia relations are of greater significance in sustaining regional and world peace and security.”
The senior diplomat spoke after a diplomatic tour through Central Asia, Mongolia, and Russia, where he participated in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The call for additional security cooperation is an apparent attempt to fortify one of China’s chief weaknesses when it comes to competition with the United States.
“One of the biggest advantages we have … is our robust network of alliances and partnerships,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday. “They have nearly none, and we have many.”
The deterioration of China’s diplomatic initiatives was on display in Moscow last week, during the SCO gathering. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov touted the assembly as a counterweight to “Western colleagues,” whom he regards as “seeking domination in global affairs.” But the meeting was characterized more by negotiations to resolve a border dispute between China and India than by any collective effort to counter Western threats.
“The fact that there is a considerable degree of competition between India and China is not rocket science; everybody knows it,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said earlier this month, before the SCO meeting. “The fact that there are elements of competition between India and China, and that we have a difficult history, recent history, is not a secret to anybody.”
Wang’s trip featured two countries, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, that have hosted, respectively, Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The Chinese envoy, following the conclusion of his trip, alleged that American officials are attempting to foment uprisings against governments in the region.
“Wang’s trip was part of China’s efforts to repair and maintain ties with our neighboring countries in a bid to avoid further isolation,” Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences analyst Li Lifan told the South China Morning Post.
