China and Russia's Efforts to Unite Against Western Sanctions

 After an official meeting, the foreign ministers of China and Russia announced that the two countries would take joint measures to counter Western economic dominance. They also took a position on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

Following sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom against Russia and China, the foreign ministers of the two countries announced their intention to jointly plan against similar sanctions and punitive measures in the future.

Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov said after an official meeting on Tuesday, March 23, in the southern Chinese city of Nanning that increased cooperation between the two countries would benefit the international community.

They stated that they are working to achieve greater global progress on a variety of issues, from climate change to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Wang strongly criticized the "coordinated sanctions" by the European Union, the United States, Britain and Canada against Chinese officials, saying that the international community does not accept such actions.

Interference in the "internal affairs of other countries"

Sergei Lavrov, while stating that sanctions bring Russia and China closer together, accused the West of "imposing its laws on others."

A joint statement issued after the meeting between the two high-ranking officials stated that no country should interfere in the "internal affairs of other countries" and seek to impose its form of democracy on another country.

The foreign ministers of China and Russia held their first meeting on Monday. After meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Sergei Lavrov stressed that the two countries must withdraw from the Western-dominated global payments system.

He mentioned SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) in this regard. Lavrov also wants national currencies to replace the US dollar in order to reduce dependence on the United States.

China and Russia were rivals during the Cold War, but have developed close ties in recent years due to their opposition to liberal regimes led by the United States and cooperation in military, technological, and trade matters.

Reasons for sanctions

The European Union imposed sanctions on several Chinese politicians and an institution a few days ago over the repression of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China. Beijing responded by imposing sanctions on 10 European politicians and four institutions.

A few days ago, the United States also added 24 Chinese officials to its sanctions list for their involvement in "reducing Hong Kong's autonomy."

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Russia several times for various reasons. The most recent punitive action by the EU was in connection with the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The latest US sanctions against Russia are being imposed over the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

On Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her New Zealand counterpart, Nanayakkara Mahuta, issued a joint statement expressing concern about the human rights situation in western China and calling for "independent investigations" into the matter.

Taking a stance on the JCPOA

The nuclear deal with Iran was another topic of discussion between Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov. They called on Washington to return to the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic as soon as possible and lift unilateral sanctions against Iran.

The foreign ministers of China and Russia also emphasized that the Islamic Republic should be encouraged to fully adhere to the JCPOA.

They also proposed the creation of a "regional security and dialogue platform" to address the security concerns of countries in the region.

Wang Yi and Lavrov did not comment on the tensions between Tehran and Washington over the new talks.

This is despite the fact that even the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has concluded that returning to the JCPOA is not possible without changes to its provisions.

In his Nowruz speech, Ali Khamenei emphasized this point and said, "The conditions have not changed in America's favor, they have changed in our favor."

For this reason, in his opinion, "If the JCPOA is to be changed, it should be changed in favor of Iran, not these people."

Source: DW