President Hu Jintao's three-day visit to Moscow, which starts
today, is vital to the development of the decade-old strategic
partnership between China and Russia, a senior Chinese diplomat
said yesterday.
Hu's tour comes as the strategic and coordinated partnership
between the two countries enters its second decade this year, and
"his visit will help create a blueprint for the development of
China-Russia relations in the next 10 years while also reviewing
past experiences", Zhang Deguang, the former Chinese ambassador to
Russia, said in an interview.
Noting that the relationship between China and Russia was not
"an alliance," nor did it target a third party, Zhang said that the
strategic and coordinated partnership between them featured "mutual
respect, equality and mutual benefit."
"Both countries can benefit from bilateral relations by seeking
to meet the long-term and fundamental interests of each other,"
said Zhang, who served as ambassador to Moscow from 2001 to
2003.?
Describing the cooperation between China and Russia over the
past decade as "pragmatic", he said the two countries had sound
collaborations in trade, energy, transportation and
telecommunications, as well as international affairs.
The two have close interests and concerns, including a similar
stance on wide-ranging international affairs, so they have good and
smooth coordination and cooperation in this regard, Zhang said.
"Both seek to safeguard world peace and support democratic
international relations, multilateral dialogues and peaceful means
to deal with international disputes, such as the Korean and Iranian
nuclear issues and the United Nations reforms," he said.
He said that the partnership formed under the framework of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a good demonstration of the
strategic and coordinated relationship between China and
Russia.
"Both China and Russia are key players in the region. They play
a crucial role in maintaining peace, stability and security, and
promoting the development of Euro-Asian ties," Zhang said, who
concluded his tenure as the organization's secretary-general at the
end of last year.
However, he said to further develop China-Russia relations, the
two countries must put a lot of efforts into promoting
understanding between their peoples. China and Russia have had some
conflict in the past, such as during the Cold War. Also, while
developing their relationship they have had to deal with some
sensitive issues, which has sometimes led to misunderstandings, he
said.
"The two countries should strengthen personal exchanges,
particularly involving the youth, and interact more in sport,
culture, health, tourism and education, to increase reciprocal
knowledge and understanding and remove disparities," Zhang
said.
(China Daily March 26, 2007)
