MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Moscow and Beijing are against Western efforts to militarize the Asia-Pacific region, including attempts to deploy NATO-standard military infrastructure there, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated following consultations between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.
The consultations on cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region were held on January 23 in Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said. "The sides praised their close regional coordination amid a rapidly changing global situation and agreed to keep strengthening the strategic partnership outlined by their leaders," the Foreign Ministry reported.
"There is a shared intention to boost cooperation within ASEAN and its frameworks to address emerging security challenges in the region, especially with the increasing number of selective military-political quasi-alliances. Russia and China are united in opposing the actions and plans of the collective West to militarize the Asia-Pacific region and to impose Indo-Pacific strategies onto the region, which include attempts to deploy NATO-standard military infrastructure there," the Foreign Ministry added.
The ministry noted that Rudenko and Sun Weidong also discussed bilateral cooperation in light of the situations in Myanmar, Afghanistan, the Korean Peninsula, and Northeast Asia. "The talks were held in a traditionally friendly and trusting atmosphere, reflecting the Russia-China dialogue," the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.