China, Russia, North Korea and Iran have decided to build their strategic partnerships as they join efforts to contain what they consider an increasingly aggressive United States trying to frustrate its interests.
At the center of the pressure appears to be Washington’s main strategic competitor, Beijing, whose delegation had its first face-to-face conversations with President Joe Biden’s government officials, resulting in a rare outbreak that can only serve to ignite its fiefdom.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was present alongside the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Yang Jiechi, in Alaska’s tense negotiations last Thursday, was scheduled on Friday to go. Tehran to meet its Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and President Hassan Rouhani.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday that China and Iran plan to review plans to “strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries and exchange views on international and regional developments”.
The two nations are part of the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal known as the Joint Global Action Plan, an arrangement that offered Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for restricting its nuclear program. Former President Donald Trump’s decision in 2018 to withdraw from the agreement and implement unilateral restrictions against Tehran has led the country to ignore some of the treaty’s limits for uranium enrichment, putting the business in jeopardy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying told reporters on Tuesday that the JCPOA was “at a critical juncture” but blamed Washington for failing to act first to lift sanctions, an action Tehran said that would respond by reinstating the nuclear limits.
“The urgent task is for the United States to return to the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue and to suspend the relevant sanctions as soon as possible,” said Hua, “while Iran will resume compliance with the agreement, in order to jointly pressure the comprehensive agreement on back on track. “
She said Beijing would remain committed to bringing all sides to a consensus.
“China hopes that all parties involved can increase their sense of urgency, meet halfway and strive to reach consensus on some initial steps as soon as possible,” said Hua, “so that the United States and Iran can resume the contract implementation process. To this end, China will continue to work actively with all interested parties. “
On the same day, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, met with the Iranian ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, for a “full exchange of views” on the current situation surrounding the nuclear deal. Moscow is also a member of the JCPOA and has asked Washington to lift sanctions against Tehran to put the agreement back on track.
China, Russia and Iran also carried out joint military exercises at sea, while tensions between Washington and Tehran were exhausted.
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While Wang met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Monday for talks in the southern Chinese city of Guilin, Guangxi province, the JCPOA was a topic of discussion as international frustrations with the US were reported.
This meeting took place in the wake of the US-China dialogue in Anchorage, the first of these meetings under the Biden government. Wang and Yang discussed with the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the deal with Iran and a number of other issues, especially with regard to deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington on sensitive topics like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.
Although the statements after the interactions were more subdued, the images of the meeting itself showed moments of rare tension that erupted between the delegations of the two main powers in the world.
While US officials accuse China of human rights abuses and coercion through economic, military and political pressure, Chinese officials warn that its rising nation will no longer be pressured or intimidated by Western powers as it has been in previous years.
“#China is not what it was 120 years ago, when foreign powers were able to force open their doors with weapons,” Hua Chunying tweeted in summary of his comments in response to new sanctions in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. “Certain individuals colluding in politics, academics and the media should think twice if they thought they could make arbitrary defamations with impunity.”
Beijing is not alone in this endeavor. Moscow and Tehran have also tried to resist Washington’s attempts to split its growing ties in areas such as Syria, as well as in other areas where its interests have been challenged.
Russia has been particularly furious since Biden agreed with the characterization of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “murderer” and warned that he “would pay a price” for the alleged interference in the elections during an interview broadcast last Wednesday on ABC News.
After Wang’s meeting with Lavrov on Monday, the two issued a joint statement appealing to the international community, amidst global historical turmoil, “to strengthen mutual understanding and build cooperation in the interests of global security and geopolitical stability, to contribute for the establishment of a more just, democratic and rational multipolar world order ”.
That same day, Chinese President Xi Jinping reached out to another power, complaining about the supposed uncontrolled hegemony of the United States. Through diplomats from both countries, Xi exchanged verbal messages with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, who informed the Chinese leader about the results of the neighboring government’s 8th Congress of Korean Workers’ Party in January.
During that high-level meeting, Kim referred to the United States as North Korea’s “main enemy”, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and promised “to adopt a skillful strategy towards the United States and to continually expand solidarity with the anti -imperialists, independent forces. “
On Monday, Kim expressed a desire for North Korea and China to channel their traditional alliance in uniting their efforts to contain opposing powers.
“Reporting in detail that the WPK discussed and decided on its political position on strengthening the country’s defense capabilities, inter-Korean relations and DPRK-US relations after an in-depth study and analysis of the situations on the Korean peninsula and international relations , “Kim” emphasized the need to strengthen unity and cooperation between the two parties and the two countries to deal with the general challenges and obstructive movements of hostile forces, “according to the Central News Agency of Korea.
The day before, North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Son Gwon, joined several nations to express a message of greeting to Iran for the Persian New Year, or Nowruz.
“Expressing the belief that traditional relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries would develop further and that mutual support and cooperation in the international arena would also become stronger in the New Year, the message wished the Iranian Foreign Minister success in their work, “the Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday.
LAURA BONILLA CAL / AFP / Getty Images
Unlike Iran, which was the target of a “maximum pressure” campaign that reversed previous years of diplomacy with the United States, North Korea experienced a historic warming of ties with the Trump administration, as well as with South Korea. , an ally of the United States. When this denuclearization process for peace and sanctions relief failed to produce any agreement, however, Pyongyang returned from diplomacy and vowed to reinforce his defenses.
North Korean officials rejected US attempts to make contact, calling for the abandonment of “hostile policies” first. Iran also says that nuclear talks should be based on lifting sanctions.
In the White House’s Provisional National Security Strategic Guidance published earlier this month, both North Korea and Iran “continue to seek game-changing resources and technologies, while threatening US allies and partners and challenging regional stability.”
China and Russia, according to the document, “have invested heavily in efforts to control US forces and prevent us from defending our interests and allies around the world”.
Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and Pyongyang have joined 13 other signatories to establish the “Group of Friends in Defense of the United Nations Charter”. The coalition of Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Venezuela and the State of Palestine, not a member of UN observer state, recently shared with Newsweek a concept note requesting new additions to the group.
Among the group’s basic principles are “non-interference in the internal affairs of States, peaceful settlement of disputes and refraining from using or threatening to use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, as enshrined in the UN Charter. . “
The Biden government, for its part, has also endeavored to strengthen its alliances and partnerships. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin conducted a trip to Asia before the Alaskan talks with China, and both also spoke out in support of NATO’s military coalition during the Cold War, which today comprises 30 countries.
Blinken met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday and, among other important issues, discussed “concern about the evil activity in Russia and China and disinformation efforts”.
“We will stand firm against Russian aggression and other actions that try to undermine our Alliance, and I think that this approach is exactly where NATO is also,” said Blinken. “And, likewise, we must and will, I believe, ensure that NATO also focuses on some of the challenges that China poses to the international rule-based order, which is also part of the 2030 vision.”