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BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe recently spoke by phone with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu “to exchange views on international and regional issues of mutual concern,” an official said on Thursday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Tan Kefei said at the monthly briefing that no further details were provided or the exact time of the call.
China has tacitly supported Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, accusing the United States and NATO of provoking the conflict and rejecting what it calls an invasion of Moscow. China has not provided arms to Russia and has not been directly involved in the conflict, which the United States has strongly warned about.
Just weeks before Russia’s February invasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement saying their countries had an “unlimited” friendship.
Putin recently reaffirmed the relationship in a congratulatory message to Xi on Sunday, as he was given an unprecedented third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
Shoigu called his counterparts in India and China on Wednesday to share Moscow’s concerns about “provocations by Ukraine that may involve a ‘dirty bomb’,” according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
China and Russia are increasingly adjusting their foreign policies against the US-led Western world order. Russia’s setback in the invasion, however, has left Beijing playing an increasingly important role in the relationship, even as China grapples with a faltering economy.
The Russian invasion has brought renewed attention to China’s threat to use force to annex Taiwan, the self-governing island republic and a close ally of the United States, which it claims as its own territory.
Taiwan has joined the United States and its allies in supporting Ukraine. On Wednesday, its foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said Taipei would provide Kyiv with an additional $56 million to rebuild schools, hospitals and other infrastructure destroyed by Russia. Wu said Taiwan will also provide scholarships for Ukrainians to study on the island.
Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian lawmaker who visited Taiwan as part of a delegation this week, said the island could be the next front in the fight for democracy.
“This is why we need to support each other, and this is why our relationship is getting closer. We will win this war together,” Ruddick was quoted as saying by Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
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