China and Russia concur to strengthen their security ties

On a visit to China on Monday, a senior Russian security official said that strengthening ties with Beijing is one of the Kremlin’s top policy objectives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s National Security Council secretary, Nikolai Patrushev, stated that China’s comprehensive relationship and strategic collaboration with Moscow are a top priority for Russia’s foreign policy.

One of Putin’s closest friends is Patrushev. In a conversation with Guo Shengkun, a senior Communist Party official in China, he stated that “under the circumstances, our countries must demonstrate even greater willingness for mutual support and expansion of cooperation.”

The sides agreed to “increase information exchanges on combating extremism and outside attempts to undermine the constitutional order of both countries,” according to a statement released by Patrushev’s office following the discussions in Nanping. The Chinese and Russian authorities also stressed the need to intensify their cybersecurity collaboration. Last week in Uzbekistan, Putin and Xi Jinping had their first meeting since the Russian president ordered soldiers into Ukraine in late February.

Although Xi committed to “strongly supporting” Russia’s “core interests,” Ukraine was not expressly mentioned in a Chinese government statement released following the meeting.

Despite the lack of specifics in the statement, Beijing frequently refers to its willingness to use war to protect its “core interests,” which include things like national sovereignty and the Communist Party’s claim to Taiwan.

Before the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Xi’s government declared a “no-limits” friendship with Moscow and has failed to condemn its military operations. Russian oil and gas shipments from China and India have both surged, helping Moscow counteract Western sanctions imposed due to its actions in Ukraine.

Putin’s infrequent mention of Chinese concerns comes as economic uncertainty brought on by the nearly seven-month conflict in Ukraine and the impact of unpredictable oil prices has alarmed China.

A security partnership made up of eight nations, including India, Pakistan, and four former Soviet Union countries in Central Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Xi and Putin met, was founded as a counterweight to American power.