China and Russia agreed on Tuesday, March 23, to automatically renew the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation for another five-year term. It will be filled taking into account new realities and will contribute to the achievement of new agreements and give a new impetus to the development of bilateral relations. This was announced by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The minister recalled that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which served as a solid legal basis “for the healthy, sustainable development of Russian-Chinese relations and contributed to the optimization and modernization of bilateral relations.”
“We have agreed on the automatic extension of this agreement, and we must constantly give this agreement a new content, taking into account the realities of the era, so that it adapts to the new conditions of Russian-Chinese relations. I think that this agreement will certainly help us to reach new agreements and give a new impetus to the development of relations, “Wang Yi quoted TASS as saying.
According to him, in recent days “a handful of European forces have been appearing on the international arena with accusations against China and Russia, but they know that lying under a far-fetched pretext and attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of China and Russia are now a thing of the past.”
The diplomat stressed that despite the changing international situation, China’s determination to uphold international justice remains unchanged. And attempts to prevent this “cannot hinder China’s steps forward and cannot change the historical trend.”
“Justice will ultimately prevail in the world,” concluded Wang Yi.
The treaty was signed by the leaders of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping on July 16, 2001 and entered into force on February 28, 2002.
On the eve, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed relations between the Russian Federation and the PRC with the United States during the Russian minister’s visit to China. It is noted that at the meeting the ministers also touched upon the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar and the Iranian nuclear program. The Foreign Ministry noted that the meeting took place in a confidential atmosphere.
On February 4, during a telephone conversation, the foreign ministers of Russia and China confirmed that the leitmotif of bilateral ties between the countries in 2021 will be the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.