China’s Top Diplomat Says Russia Ties ‘Rock Solid’

China top diplomat, Wang Yi. (Reuters)
China top diplomat, Wang Yi. (Reuters)
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China’s Top Diplomat Says Russia Ties ‘Rock Solid’

China top diplomat, Wang Yi. (Reuters)
China top diplomat, Wang Yi. (Reuters)

China's top diplomat told one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies on Tuesday that Beijing's relationship with Moscow was "rock solid" and would withstand any test in a changing international situation.

China's "no limits" partnership with Russia has come under scrutiny in the West after the United States said it was concerned that Beijing might be considering supplying weapons to Russia a year since the invasion of Ukraine.

At a meeting in Moscow, Wang Yi told Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council, that he looked forward to discussions about security.

"Chinese-Russian relations are mature in character: they are rock solid and will withstand any test in a changing international situation," Wang told "Comrade" Patrushev through a Russian interpreter in remarks aired on state television.

Wang said Russia and China should work out new joint steps to ensure the security of both countries, without elaborating.

Patrushev, who is close to Putin, told "Comrade" Wang that Beijing was a top priority for Russian foreign policy and that the two countries must stick together against the West.

"In the context of a campaign that is being waged by the collective West to contain both Russia and China, the further deepening of Russian-Chinese cooperation and interaction in the international arena is of particular importance," RIA cited Patrushev.

Xi visit?

Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Putin in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Preparations for the trip are at an early stage and the timing has not been finalized, the WSJ said, adding that Xi could visit in April or early May, when Russia celebrates its World War Two victory over Germany.

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The war began just weeks after Putin and Xi declared a "no limits" partnership.

Xi has stood by Putin, resisting Western pressure to isolate Russia. Chinese-Russian trade has soared since the invasion of Ukraine, and Russia has sold Asian powers including China greater volumes of oil.

Putin and Xi share a broad world view which sees the West as decadent and in decline just as China challenges US supremacy in everything from technology to espionage and military power.

The United States casts China and Russia as the two biggest nation-state threats to its security. China is viewed by Washington as the gravest long-term "strategic competitor" and Russia as an "acute threat".

"I want to confirm our continued support for Beijing over the issues of Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong," Patrushev said.

Wang was due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday as part of the visit to Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said he does not rule out a meeting between Wang and Putin, saying "there is lots to talk about".



Israel’s Rightist Government Celebrates as Trump Claims Victory

A billboard shows a slogan in support of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, on the day of 2024 US presidential election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 5, 2024. (Reuters)
A billboard shows a slogan in support of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, on the day of 2024 US presidential election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israel’s Rightist Government Celebrates as Trump Claims Victory

A billboard shows a slogan in support of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, on the day of 2024 US presidential election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 5, 2024. (Reuters)
A billboard shows a slogan in support of Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump, on the day of 2024 US presidential election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 5, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters celebrated the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House next year, hailing what a leader of the settler movement called an ally who would support them "unconditionally".

Congratulating Trump, Netanyahu said the former president was set for "history's greatest comeback".

"Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America," he said in a statement, which was echoed by the leaders of the hard-right nationalist religious parties in his coalition.

The Palestinian armed group Hamas, which has been fighting Israel for more than a year in Gaza, said the election was a matter for the American people, but it called for an end to the "blind support" for Israel from the United States.

"We urge Trump to learn from (President Joe) Biden's mistakes," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

The outcome is a relief for Netanyahu's coalition, which has clashed with Biden's Democratic administration over the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon that have fueled protests worldwide and left Israel increasingly isolated internationally.

The first Trump administration delivered major wins to Netanyahu, when it went against most of the world in recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and accepting Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Israel's settler leaders also welcomed the election results after Biden's administration imposed sanctions and asset freezes on settler groups and individuals involved in violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"We expect to have an ally standing unconditionally beside us as we fight the battles that are a war on the entire West," Israel Ganz, chairman of the main Yesha settler council, said in a statement to Reuters.

Underscoring the tensions, around 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Wednesday targeting locations including the coastal city of Tel Aviv with no injuries, the Israeli military said.

Television footage showed part of a rocket that appeared to have been shot down by air defense systems smashing a car in the Israeli city of Raanana, close to Tel Aviv.

Nearly two thirds of Israelis believe Trump would be better for Israel than his Democratic Party rival Kamala Harris, according to a survey from the Israel Democracy Institute.

"I think it's good for Israel," said Jerusalem resident Nissim Attias. "He proved the last time he was the president, he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and everything that he said, he did."