Chinese and Russian diplomatic leaders have shown unity against the US and the EU

Wang Yi and Sergei Lavrov rejected foreign criticism of their authoritarian political systems, saying they were contributing to efforts to tackle a variety of global problems, from climate change to the coronavirus pandemic.

During their previous meeting in Naning, southern China, on Monday, Wang Yi and Lavrov accused the United States of interference in the affairs of other countries and called on Washington to return to an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. The administration of the new president of the United States is cautious with this perspective. Both Russia and China have close ties with Tehran.

Both officials used the same rhetoric at a press conference on Tuesday, where Wang Yi criticized coordinated sanctions between the EU and the US against Chinese officials for human rights abuses in the western Xinjiang region.

“The parties must unanimously oppose any unilateral sanction,” said Wang Yi. “The international community does not support these measures.”

China claims that Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang voluntarily attend vocational training courses to deter radicalization, and rejects allegations that more than 1 million people are being held in re-education camps, where they are forced to resign. to their culture and pledge allegiance to the ruling Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jingping. The media, foreign governments and activist organizations claim that human rights continue to be violated in such institutions, such as the practice of forced labor and birth control.

Beijing responded immediately on Monday to the EU move by imposing retaliatory sanctions on 10 Europeans and four institutions that China said damaged its interests and “maliciously spread lies and disinformation.” These people are prohibited from visiting mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as having financial ties with Chinese institutions.

Xinjiang has been plagued with violence in the past due to discontent with government policies, but Beijing claims that austerity measures introduced a few years ago have brought peace to the region.

China and Russia competed for leadership in the communist world during the Cold War, but they have established strong relationships in recent years based on opposition to the liberal order led by the United States, as well as to military, technological and natural resource trade. The Communist Party of China does not allow any political opposition to operate and strictly controls civil society. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his campaign to deal with citizens who demand a more open system.

Western states have been imposing sanctions on Russia for many years over annexing Crimea, supporting separatists in western Ukraine, and clashing with critics of the Kremlin.

EU sanctions against China are subject to a new system, similar to the so-called Magnitsky law, a law in the days of former US President Barack Obama that allowed Washington to blacklist people suspected of human rights abuses. Such criminals are frozen assets and are prohibited from entering the United States.

Beijing and Washington held stormy talks in Hawaii last week, and relations between the United States and Russia took a severe blow Thursday after Putin ridiculed Biden as a “murderer.”