China and Russia should enhance 'true multilateralism'

China and Russia should work together to further expose miscellaneous "pseudo-multilateralism" to the international community and to prevent moves that compromise the international order under the pretext of "rules", State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Uzbek capital Tashkent on Thursday, Wang stressed that the two countries should "firmly uphold true multilateralism".

During their talk, Wang noted that both countries made great sacrifices in World War II, and they are both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Beijing and Moscow should maintain coordination and cooperation, take a clear-cut stand against external forces' interference in countries' internal affairs, jointly oppose bloc confrontation and moves that run against history's trajectory, and safeguard international peace and stability, Wang said.

The two sides should firmly uphold the tenets and principles of the UN Charter and firmly safeguard the core role of the UN in international affairs, he said.

Lavrov noted that some countries are keen on diplomacy for building cliques, they are only willing to listen to what they like to hear, and they attempt to rebuild a unipolar world, which Russia and China should resolutely boycott.

Russia supports China in hosting the Beijing Winter Olympic Games next year and is willing to deepen cooperation with China within multilateral frameworks such as the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the United Nations, he said.

Moscow is willing to closely coordinate with Beijing on affairs such as hosting a summit of the five UN Security Council permanent members, preventing an arms race in outer space, safeguarding international biosafety and information security, he added.

Responding to the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, Wang said that the two countries are expected to jointly boycott the Indo-Pacific Strategy that is full of Cold War mentality, and to promote peaceful development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Lavrov said Russia also looks to strengthen communication and coordination with China on affairs in Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, guard against the Indo-Pacific Strategy's damage to the region's peace, and jointly safeguard stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

The Afghanistan situation, the Iran nuclear issue and the COVID-19 fight were some other major topics of Wang's one-on-one meetings with a number of senior Asian and European diplomats, including Lavrov, on Thursday.

They were meeting on the sidelines of a high-level international meeting on the regional connectivity of Central and South Asia.

In a meeting with the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Wang said Beijing is willing to keep communicating with Brussels on the Afghanistan situation and on resuming implementation and negotiations for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of the Iranian nuclear issue.

The goal is to prevent the outbreak of a full-scale civil war in Afghanistan and to put the JCPOA back on track, Wang said.

Borrell said that the EU looks to work with the international community, including China, to promote stability in Afghanistan and the resumption of JCPOA implementation by the United States and Iran at an early date.

Similarly, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Wang that his country hopes to strengthen communication and coordination with China on the Afghanistan situation, the Iranian nuclear issue, and further advance cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines.