China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, met in Beijing on Tuesday, in a session seen as laying the groundwork for an expected visit to China by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and pushing back against mounting pressure from the United States and its allies.
Mr. Lavrov’s visit came just days after Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned of “significant consequences” if Chinese companies provided material support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. It also took place as President Biden was set to host the leaders of Japan and the Philippines on Wednesday to boost economic and security ties to counter China’s growing assertiveness in Asia.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and said the two sides had talked about deepening security ties to resist the West’s “anti-Chinese” and “anti-Russian orientation.” In a sign of the Kremlin’s continued deference to China, Mr. Lavrov reaffirmed Russia’s rejection of any “outside interference” over Beijing’s claims to the de facto independent island of Taiwan.
“There is no place for dictatorships, hegemony, neocolonial and colonial practices, which are now being widely used by the United States and the rest of the ‘collective West,’” Mr. Lavrov said.
Mr. Wang’s remarks were more measured — a reflection of China’s difficult balancing act in supporting Russia while also trying to avoid alienating important trading partners in Western Europe.
China’s top diplomat did not mention the United States by name, a common practice by Chinese officials, and instead called for Russia and China to “oppose all hegemonic and bullying behaviors” and “oppose the Cold War mentality.”
Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022, days before Russian forces invaded Ukraine. While China has cast itself as neutral, its tacit support for the war underscores how it still needs an alliance with Russia to weaken the global dominance of its chief competitor, the United States.
Moscow, by aligning closely with Beijing, wants to demonstrate that it is not globally isolated despite its invasion of Ukraine. China provides Russia with diplomatic cover and an economic lifeline by purchasing Russian oil, gas and coal, and by selling Chinese consumer goods and technology to Russia.
Together, the two sides have tried to forge an alternative world order by marshaling support from the developing world through multilateral organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, a group named for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that promotes economic and political ties.
Russia and China have also garnered support from countries such as Iran and North Korea which oppose the West and have a shared interest in weakening the power of U.S. sanctions and the role of human rights in global politics.
Mr. Putin is expected to visit China, perhaps as soon as next month. A date has yet to be confirmed, though the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists on Tuesday that Mr. Lavrov’s visit could be considered as “preparation for contacts at the highest level.”
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