On Thursday, September 8, a meeting
of the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Li Zhanshu was held at the State Duma. The negotiations lasted almost three hours.
“As our President has repeatedly stated, our dialogue and our relations are based on unprecedented mutual trust. And it would be right to develop it within the framework of our parliamentary cooperation and do everything so that we could understand each other better. And, of course, we should develop our cooperation within the parliamentary dimension,” said Vyacheslav Volodin.
The Chairman of the State Duma stressed that the leaders of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, had contributed a lot to the development of relations, and it would be important to provide legislative support to the decisions made by the heads of the states.
Vyacheslav Volodin recalled that there was established a high-level commission on cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National People's Congress, but he also noted the necessity of further development of inter-parliamentary cooperation at the level of relevant committees.
He also noted the importance of further strengthening of Russia-China cooperation at international organizations.
“We should also create new formats of cooperation, develop them and try to do everything to reach a concrete result,” stressed the Chairman of the State Duma.
“Our relations are based on the principles of non-alignment and non-confrontation and are not directed against other states. Our cooperation is based on the most important interests of our two nations and brings certainty and stability to a chaotic world. Our relations could be a great example of building cooperation between neighboring and large states,” emphasized Li Zhanshu.
Countering Western sanctions
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress stressed that Russia-China cooperation should be developed and strengthened even in the sanctions conditions imposed by the Western states.
“In the context of US sanctions imposed against you and against us, some of our joint areas of cooperation are indeed gradually getting more sensitive, but I am convinced that we should not halt our cooperation just because we are afraid of sanctions. It is not right. We should find new formats of cooperation,” emphasized Li Zhanshu.
He also asked Vyacheslav Volodin to discuss issues of exchange of legislative experience in countering external challenges and sanctions, noting the effectiveness of the measures taken by Russia. The Chairman of the State Duma said that all the documents would be provided to the Chinese colleagues in the near future.
“We agreed to exchange adopted laws, as well as those draft laws that will be reviewed by the State Duma and the National People's Congress,” Vyacheslav Volodin said after the meeting.
Li Zhanshu also thanked the Russian side for its position on Nancy Pelosi's illegal visit to Taiwan and its support for China's territorial integrity.
China's support for Russia's position on Ukrainian issue
During the meeting, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress raised the issue related to the current situation in Ukraine and expressed support for Russia.
Li Zhanshu stressed that China “has complete understanding about Russia’s concerns and Russia’s position.” According to him, one of the reasons of the crisis in Ukraine was “the US desire to maintain its supremacy in the world.”
“The US authorities do not want and do not dare to directly send the troops to Ukraine, but they have taken all other measures to put pressure on Russia,” said the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and added that Washington “is doing a lot to prolong the conflict”..
“I am convinced that their attempts are doomed to failure. For a long time they have been trying to suppress China, but they have failed. <…> They want to crush Russia, but that also did not happen and will not happen, because the Russian people have great stress resistance and a great ability to retaliate. Therefore, Russia will not be crushed. I am convinced that Russia will become only stronger,” stressed Li Zhanshu.
“We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and I would like to express my gratitude to the Comrade Chairman Li Zhanshu for understanding, an objective assessment of the role of the United States of America and I would like to emphasize once again that our country is fighting for peace and security, protecting its citizens, and is countering aggression of NATO member states on the territory of Ukraine,” Vyacheslav Volodin said following the meeting.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress also invited Vyacheslav Volodin to pay an official visit to Beijing. The Chairman of the State Duma accepted the invitation. Li Zhanshu expressed hope that the visit would take place in the near future.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
of China Li Zhanshu is paying an official visit to Russia at the invitation of the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. The day before, he took part
in the 7th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. He also met with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
There is also planned to hold a meeting of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress with the leaders of the State Duma factions.
That is the first foreign visit of Li Zhanshu since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. He paid a visit to Russia in September 2019.
