Russia and China Will Fight Double Containment

Sept. 10, 2022 (EIRNS)—Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, was in Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum, where he met President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 7, then traveled to Moscow Sept. 9, where he met the fellow lawmakers of Russia’s Federal Assembly: State Duma President Vyacheslav Volodin and Speaker of the Federation Council Sen. Valentina Matviyenko.

In his meetings, Li said Russia and China will fight together against NATO expansion and the “double containment” against Moscow and Beijing. “They hammer together bloc structures as well as implementing an Indo-Pacific strategy precisely in order to contain our development between two oceans—the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. From this standpoint, the pertinence of bolstering our strategic interaction will only grow and we will battle together their hegemony and the policy of force,” he remarked.

Li stressed “We see how nowadays, the Americans view Russia and China as their strategic rivals in order to maintain its domination worldwide, and implement the double containment against us. This is about unchecked NATO expansion eastward and profound meddling in the affairs of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as their attempt to reduce our strategic space on the Eurasian continent.”

Sen. Valentina Matviyenko said that Russia is adamant that Taiwan is an integral part of China, and that the Western countries were trying to retain “dominance in global politics and the economy” that is slipping away from their hands. Moreover the United States had set a course toward suppressing any independence. “They decided to convert Ukraine into a threat to Russia. In the situation involving Taiwan, the Americans have demonstrated the same policy in the context of plans to supply weapons to the island and visits by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congress members,” Matviyenko stressed.

Li said cooperation between the legislative bodies of China and Russia is an important forum for implementing the consensus reached by Presidents Xi and Putin. He called for regular exchanges between the two bodies. The heads of the five major party groups in the State Duma pledged to consolidate the foundation of China-Russia friendship and pragmatic cooperation.