PRC Chairman Xi Jinping paid an official visit to Moscow and took part in the celebration of Victory Day

 PRC Chairman Xi Jinping, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, paid an official visit to Moscow from May 7 to 10, during which he took part in the festive events on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. In addition to the PRC Chairman, the leaders of almost 30 countries from four continents of the planet came to Moscow for the celebrations dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism and militarism, which may indicate the complete failure of the West’s efforts to isolate Russia in the international arena. Incidentally, this fact was noted by many leading world media, including Western ones. The Kremlin, we note, was expecting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the celebrations, but he was unable to fly in due to tensions in relations with Pakistan. India was represented in Moscow by the country’s Minister of State for Defense Sanjay Seth.

During the talks on May 8 in the Kremlin, the leaders of Russia and China discussed the main issues of developing bilateral relations, as well as current issues on the international and regional agenda. Vladimir Putin highly praised the progress of the talks with Xi Jinping. “We have just held an in-depth and meaningful exchange of views in a narrow format on the main areas of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction. We have outlined plans for further joint work in the future,” the Russian leader said during the Russian-Chinese talks in an expanded format. Incidentally, at the narrow format meeting, President Putin announced his readiness to visit China to celebrate the anniversary of the victory over militarist Japan.

Following the talks Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping adopted a joint statement dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of the Victory in World War II. As the Russian President stated at the expanded negotiations in the Kremlin, “its leitmotif will be the living connection of times – not only in the context of historical memory and patriotic education of youth, but also in the context of countering attempts to revive Nazism and militarism, and revising the results of World War II.”

Indeed, the entire current visit of the Chinese leader to Moscow was marked by celebrations on the occasion of the anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism and militarism. It is no coincidence that the Chairman of the PRC said at the talks in the Kremlin: “More than 80 years ago, the peoples of China and Russia fought shoulder to shoulder on the Asian and European fronts of World War II and together defended peace and justice throughout the world.” It should also be noted that following the talks in the Kremlin, the leaders of the two states signed a statement on further deepening the relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction, which have entered a new era. In addition, the parties signed a number of agreements aimed at deepening cooperation in key sectors. In particular, the leaders of the two countries gave instructions to accelerate the implementation of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project, which will run from Russia to China.

One would like to emphasize that in recent decades, thanks to joint work, the scale and foundation of cooperation between Russia and China have been increasing, its areas are expanding, and certain results have been achieved. Suffice it to say, for example, that trade turnover between the two countries last year grew by 7.5% and amounted to a record amount of $245 billion – from the supply of Russian energy resources and agricultural products to the table of a Chinese family to various Chinese goods and cars on the streets of Russia. This fact is evidence that stable and improving practical cooperation gives a powerful impetus to the development and deepening of bilateral relations. And the West does not like this at all, especially the United States, which sees China and Russia as its main opponents in the world.

At the same time despite the difficulties in global development, practical cooperation between Russia and China is moving forward, maintaining a positive trend in both quantity and quality. It is possible to note the fruitful interaction of the two countries within the UN, BRICS and SCO. This became possible primarily due to the guiding role of the heads of the two states – Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. And the just completed official visit of the Chinese leader to Moscow is clear confirmation of this.

It is also an undeniable fact that the current visit of the PRC Chairman to Russia, in addition to its importance for the development of bilateral relations between Moscow and Beijing, was also of strategic importance for the entire world. After all, the participation of the head of the Chinese state in the ceremonial events dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of the USSR’s Victory in the Great Patriotic War is primarily about values. Mutual recognition of the fact that the defeat of Nazism is the central event of modern history and also basis uniting Russia and China in modern international politics.

Moreover, it does not matter at all that for the USA, Western Europe and Japan, the results of World War II, which they are trying in every possible way to distort, are no longer of particular importance. For Moscow and Beijing, the only thing that matters is what helps them defend their interests and move the world towards a more just order in relations between states. Because any world order is not the result of ephemeral “common efforts,” but the product of the persistence of very specific powers capable of uniting their efforts on a common basis of values, as in the case of Russia and China.

As Vladimir Putin confirmed during talks with Xi Jinping in the Kremlin, he will travel to China in late August-early September, where he will take part in celebrations of a similar anniversary of the already “Chinese” part of World War II. And the importance of this visit will also be in the fact that it will confirm the existence of a value basis for Russia and China, despite certain differences in the practical sphere, where Moscow and Beijing, based on their national interests, sometimes take different positions. For example, we have noticed this very often in the past three years, when specific Chinese companies or banks refused to work with Russian partners because they were afraid of being hit by “sanctions” from the United States or, to a lesser extent, the European Union.

However the approaches of Russia and China are absolutely identical today – there cannot be a narrow group of states in the world that impose their interests on everyone else. It is the absence of such a distortion of international life that Moscow and Beijing see as a fair world order. For Russia and China, it seems that Western logic, according to which the departure of one dictatorial state (read the USA) inevitably means its replacement by another, does not work at all.

This strategic culture inevitably leads Moscow and Beijing to the conclusion that it is the results of World War II that should remain the main foundation of the world order. And it is no coincidence that during the talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Xi Jinping said that China is ready to boldly defend the truth about the history of that war together with Russia and to form an equal and orderly multipolar world.

“History and reality convincingly show that the progressive development and deepening of Chinese-Russian relations is an imperative for continuing the centuries-old friendship between the peoples and a mandatory choice for achieving new successes in the prosperity and revival of our countries, and meets the call of our time to uphold international justice and promote reform of the global governance system,” said the Chairman of the PRC. And as we know, the Chinese leader’s words do not differ from his deeds…

Sergey Saenko, international observer

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