With U.S. Secretary of Defense calling China and Russia threats to the international order and U.S. global dominance, Beijing and Moscow are set to sign nuclear, aviation and space deals next week, according to Reuters.
The signing of the deals will take place during Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to China. Medvedev is scheduled to attend a summit of prime ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security block headed by China and Russia.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Goping gave no details on the deals to be signed between China and Russia, other than the fact that the meeting will be held in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.
“The relevant agencies and companies of the two countries will sign several agreements, including in the spheres of energy, space, civil aviation, nuclear energy, as well as scientific and humanitarian exchanges,” Goping told reporters on Tuesday.
He added that the upcoming visit of Medvedev to China will facilitate cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in trade and economic and every other sphere. “It will also be an important diplomatic event,” Goping said.
Nuclear bros: China and Russia
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization group includes China, Russia and the following ex-Soviet states: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, while Pakistan, India, Iran, Afghanistan and Mongolia are observers.
China and Russia have strengthened their business, security and diplomatic ties since the tensions between Moscow and Washington began in early 2014. Beijing and Moscow also tend to vote together as veto-holding permanent members of UN Security Council.
In November, China agreed to buy 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia in a deal worth over $2 billion. It was also recently reported that Russia’s Gazprom and China’s CNPC have agreed to sign an energy agreement on building the transborder section of the Siberia gas pipeline that features an underwater section.
In May 2014, China and Russia signed a contract lasting 30 years and worth $400 billion to transfer 38 billion cubic meters of gas every year from Russia to China through the Power of Siberia gas transmission system.
ISIS got weapons from Russia and China – Amnesty International
ISIS – aka Daesh – has received weapons and arms from dozens of countries, including China, Russia and the U.S., according to a report published by human rights group Amnesty International.
The report states that the terrorist group used weapons from China, Russia, the U.S. as well as dozens of other countries to terrorize, kill, execute its hostages and carry out terror attack.
Amnesty International has found that Daesh terror acts and murders have been caused by decades of “reckless” arms trading. Moreover, according to the human rights group, it’s partly the West’s fault.
Amnesty International published a report on Tuesday titled ‘Taking Stock: The arming of Islamic State’, in which it reveals that lax controls and decades of an inadequately regulated arms trade are to blame for ISIS getting its hands on a large and deadly arsenal of weapons, which it has been using to kill and carry out terror acts, including the one in Paris last month.
The report also indicated that chaotic corruption within the Iraqi government had also contributed to ISIS obtaining weapons and arms to do atrocities across Syria and Iraq.
The report is based on expert analysis of thousands of videos and pictures as well as verified reports on how Daesh militants are using arms, largely taken from Iraqi military stocks, which were manufactured in over two dozen countries, including China, Russia and the U.S.
The human rights group also noted that other weapons have been obtained by the terror group during battlefields, through illegal trade and as a result of defection of soldiers across Syria and Iraq.
China and Russia are threats to U.S. global dominance – U.S. Secretary of Defense
Amid warming relations between China and Russia, both Beijing and Moscow are threats to the international order and U.S. global dominance, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, as reported by ValueWalk last month.
Carter said that Russia poses a great threat to the world order with Russian President Vladimir Putin playing with his country’s nuclear weapons.
Carter noted that the U.S. defense establishment is actively seeking ways to deter Russian aggression to protect U.S. interests and its allies. He also said that China’s expanding influence and increasing military might also pose great challenges to U.S. global dominance, saying that both Russia and China are conducting “challenging activities” at sea, in the air, in space, as well as in cyberspace.
Earlier this month, ValueWalk reported that Russia is seeking ways to become allies with more nuclear-powered countries amid reports that Russia is preparing for a potential nuclear war with the West.
Russia is currently seeking to build military ties with Pakistan. The move also appears to be a response to India, Pakistan’s traditional rival, buying more weapons from the U.S.
Russia picks nuclear allies for imminent war with NATO
Moscow recently announced it will build a second gas pipeline to China, who’s Pakistan’s biggest ally. The move would thus once and for all tilt energy exports toward Asia.
“China and Russia are also allying themselves, so it’s also one factor why Russia is looking toward Pakistan more cooperatively,” retired Lieutenant General Talat Masood, a former chairman of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, told Bloomberg earlier this month. “It’s important to be an ally of an ally.”
Russia and Pakistan are already strengthening their ties in counter-terrorism cooperation, increasing port calls of military ships as well as helping stabilize the volatile situation in Afghanistan. During the meeting between Russian and Pakistani officials, the two sides agreed to further boost the $542 million of bilateral trade between the two nations.
Back in August, ValueWalk reported that there were signs of the emergence on a new superpower axis in the world – a triangle between Russia, China and Pakistan.
Both China and Russia see Washington as a challenge to their interests, while they also believe it is in their best interests to put an end to U.S. global dominance. Pakistan, meanwhile, has no significant disagreements with the U.S., but it would be glad to ensure its own safety under the wing of the Chinese and Russians.
