The Chinese leader underlines the ‘rapidly developing changes not seen in a century and the turbulent international situation’.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to promote “world peace” in a New Year message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain steadfast in further comprehensively deepening reforms … and promoting world peace and development,” Xi said on Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, China has tried to present itself as a neutral party — unlike the United States and other Western countries.
But it remains a close political and economic partner of Russia, leading some NATO members to describe Beijing as an “enabler” of the war.
According to CCTV, Xi told Putin: “In the face of rapidly developing changes not seen in a century and the turbulent international situation, China and Russia have continuously moved forward hand in hand on the right path of non-alignment. confrontation and not targeting any third party.”
Both presidents share a strong personal bond with Xi calling his Russian counterpart his “best friend” and Putin esteeming his “trustworthy partner”.
Their relationship has been constant despite a decade of growing friction with Western countries, exemplified by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Xi noted to Putin that 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, according to CCTV, “representing an important new milestone in relations between the two countries.”
“After three-quarters of a century of ups and downs, China-Russia relations have become more and more mature and stable,” Xi said.
‘Everything will be fine’
Russia has strengthened its unity in the first quarter of the 21st century, achieving important goals and overcoming trials and tribulations, Putin said in his New Year’s address.
“And now, on the eve of the new year, we are thinking about the future. We have faith that everything will be fine, we will just move forward. We know for sure that the absolute value for us was, is and will be the fate of Russia, the well-being of its citizens,” he said.
Putin paid tribute to Russian soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine, describing them as “real heroes”, but did not elaborate on the state of the conflict or make predictions about how the situation on the battlefield would evolve in 2025 .
Meanwhile, in his New Year’s address, Xi said no one can stop China’s “reunification” with Taiwan, issuing a stark warning to what Beijing sees as pro-independence forces inside and outside the 23-nation island. million inhabitants.
“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can sever our family ties, and no one can stop the historic trend of national reunification,” China’s leader said.
Tensions have remained high throughout the year in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, especially since William Lai Ching-te, considered a “separatist” by Beijing, became the island’s last president in May.
