Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the latter's request on the sidelines of meetings of foreign ministers on East Asia cooperation, with both sides agreeing to maintain strategic coordination and deepen practical cooperation. Wang gave a comprehensive elaboration on China's legitimate position on the Taiwan question, and appreciated Russia's immediate reiteration of firm support for the one-China principle and opposition to any act that infringes on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which testifies to the high-level strategic coordination between the two sides. China stands ready to work with Russia to safeguard in a more vigorous way the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law to achieve more effectively lasting security and sustainable development, the Chinese Foreign Minister said. Wang said that under the current situation, China and Russia should jointly promote regional development, calling for boosting mutually beneficial cooperation with regional countries in the fields of fighting COVID-19, health, connectivity, digital economy, as well as green and low-carbon development and building stable and reliable regional industrial and supply chains. China and Russia should support that the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific adheres to independence, ASEAN leadership and the ASEAN approach, the Chinese Foreign Minister said. Wang added that it is also important to guide countries in the region to pursue a vision of true security that is common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable, rather than the false security of seeking supremacy and confrontation. The Chinese Foreign Minister stressed the need to uphold a genuine order based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and oppose a fake order based on hegemony and bullying, Wang said. China and Russia should strengthen the alignment and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, and forge a bigger synergy with the Greater Eurasian Partnership, so as to jointly promote unity, development and prosperity of the Eurasian continent, pool efforts to jointly uphold the norms governing international relations, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and lead the world development in the right direction. Lavrov said the United States has a habit of bullying around. Its hegemonic policies run counter to international consensus and are doomed to have no future. Russia is ready to work with China to uphold international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Lavrov said. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern such as BRICS cooperation, the Iranian nuclear issue and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
