A joint statement from the two leaders said the bonds between the two countries had “no limits” and there were “no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation”. It called on the west to “abandon the ideologised approaches of the cold war”, and expressed support for each other’s stance on Ukraine and Taiwan.
Analysts say that the leaders believe they are stronger united. “Beijing’s rationale for the China-Russia relationship is that both countries confront a hostile west and both will be better able to withstand western pressure by standing together than apart,” says Ryan Hass, a Brookings Institute scholar on China and Asia. “Without Russia, the thinking goes, China would be alone to deal with a hostile west determined to obstruct China’s rise.”
