Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, that strategic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is a pillar of maintaining peace around the globe. Dong made these comments in his first public appearance since his appointment at the end of last year.

China has sided with Russia during the ongoing war with Ukraine.

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Rulers from both China and Russia, being called “defense chiefs” said that the two ruling classes should deepen their alliance during a video call on Wednesday.

“We have supported you on the Ukrainian issue despite the fact that the United States and the European Union continue to put pressure on the Chinese side,” Dong stated, promising that Beijing “will not change or abandon our established policy course over this,” even under the threat of more sanctions.

At the same time, China feels “strong support from the Russian side on the Taiwan issue as well as on other topics of our key interests,” Dong added. “As the two most important and key forces in the world, we should decisively respond to global challenges.”

Beijing’s newly-appointed defense chief went on to claim that “the US is always targeting Russia and China, seeking to retain its hegemony around the globe,” but added that “history and the reality prove that hegemony is doomed to failure.”

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Shoigu, has echoed the sentiment, according to a report by RT.  Shoigu agreed that, unlike Western states, Russia and China are not “creating military blocs,” and their military cooperation is not “directed against third countries.” The defense chief noted that “Russian-Chinese relations in the military sphere are developing steadily in all areas,” and said he was looking forward to “close, productive cooperation” with his Chinese counterpart.

Isn’t BRICS a military bloc? And isn’t it one that continues to grow rapidly? BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

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