The Kremlin on Friday expressed solidarity with China over Taiwan, after the matter was raised. addressed in a virtual conversation between Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and US dictator Joe Biden.
“We certainly sympathize (with Beijing). We respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and believe that no country in the world should have the right to question this or take provocative measures,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin representative added that “such behavior at the international level can only cause additional tension.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said he hoped there would be no “provocations” capable of aggravating the situation around Taiwan.
On a visit to Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, Lavrov assured that Russia “has no objection” to China defending its sovereignty.
Xi and Biden spoke by phone on Thursday (28). The Chinese leader called on the US to “respect the ‘one China’ principle”, according to an official statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
During the virtual meeting, the first since the one held in March, the Chinese leader reiterated China’s opposition to “Taiwan independence” and “foreign interference”.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated in recent days during US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible trip to Taiwan.
This week, a Chinese military spokesperson warned the US that the country’s forces “would not sit back” if the visit took place, and Chinese diplomacy recently reiterated that China would “respond firmly”.
Biden, for his part, told the Chinese dictator that US policy towards Taiwan “has not changed” and that his government continues to “vigorately” oppose any unilateral effort to change the “status quo”.
“On Taiwan, President Biden emphasized that U.S. policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to alter the status quo or undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the White House said.
Taiwan, with which the US has no official relations, is a major source of conflict between China and the United States, especially since Washington is the island’s biggest arms supplier and would be its biggest military ally in the event of a military conflict with the Asian giant.
