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Hu, Putin Reaffirm "Strategic" Alliance At Summit Talks Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (R), after a signing ceremony at Moscow's Kremlin, 01 July 2005. The Chinese and Russian presidents held a summit Friday aimed at strengthening security in volatile Central Asia and toughening economic ties between these two giants once seen as the West's main threat in Cold War days. Hu Jintao arrived to Russia on a three-day official visit. http://www.sinodaily.com/images/china-hu-putin-security-tallks-afp-bg.jpg AFP photo by Pool/ Alexander Nemenov. Moscow (AFP) Jul 01, 2005 China and Russia reaffirmed their strategic alliance in summit talks and took a broad - if veiled - swipe at US global power by vowing resolute opposition to attempts by any state to "dominate international affairs." Hu Jintao also attacked double standards in fighting terrorism and said human rights must take account of national traditions. The themes were laid down in a nine-page document signed by the former Cold War enemies of the West on "The International Order in the 21st century," seen by some Russian media as a shot at Washington's growing influence in their regions, notably in Central Asia. "This declaration has great importance in deepening the strategic cooperation between our two countries," Hu said after meeting Putin in the Kremlin. The document states that the international community should "completely desist from confrontational and bloc mentalities, attempts to monopolize and dominate in international affairs, attempts to divide states between leaders and led." As regards terror threats, it said that "terrorists" should be deprived of financial and social support and that "double standards are inadmissible". The document also said human rights must be respected but in a way that takes "into account the principles and traditions of each country" and "non-interference in their internal affairs". Hu's four-day visit, which began Thursday, will also take him to energy-rich Siberia, where he will meet regional leaders in the city of Novosibirsk. Both Hu and Putin will later head to a summit of the regional security group, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in the Kazakh capital Astana Tuesday and Wednesday, and then to the Group of Eight summit in Scotland Thursday and Friday. Putin stressed there were "vast bilateral possibilities for inter-regional cooperation," adding that Russia and China "intend to develop our military ties and cooperation" and stressed "the great potential for continuing our economic cooperation." He said the neighbors would hold joint large-scale military exercises by the end of this year. Hu meanwhile stressed their increasing cooperation "on important regional and international questions, such as guaranteeing stability in Central Asia, the Shanghai group, the form of the United Nations and the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula." Beijing and Moscow have particularly sought to enhance security cooperation through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and has made fighting "extremism" in Central Asia a prime goal despite growing Western criticism of hardline methods by regional governments to counter unrest. The summit came amid cooling in Russia-US relations, given US doubts about Putin's commitment to deepen Russia's democracy. US President George W. Bush's apparent determination to support democratic change in other states of the former Soviet Union has also been a source of chagrin to Moscow. Russia is considered a crucial partner in the US "war on terror." Putin, however, insists that the West concede that the war in Chechnya is also a battle against terrorism. China-US relations, meanwhile, are strained by a slew of US concerns ranging from the value of the yuan to a flood of Chinese textile exports, Chinese designs on Taiwan and human rights. On the economic front, several agreements were signed aimed at boosting trade ties, including cooperation agreements between the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft and two Chinese firms, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Sinopec. The accord with CNPC agrees to "study" ways of increasing oil supplies to China, while that with Sinopec provides for the creation of a joint enterprise to explore a section of Russia's Pacific Sakhalin shelf. The meeting fell short of producing a firm commitment to build an oil pipeline from Siberia to China, as Beijing has sought. Concerning wider trade-boosting efforts, Hu on Thursday said the aim was to raise bilateral trade from around 20 billion dollars (16.6 billion euros) currently to some 60 to 80 billion dollars annually by 2010. Earlier this month, Beijing and Moscow ended a 40-year dispute, signing an agreement on the route of their 4,300 kilometre (2,700 mile) border. All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
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