West's worries about closer Sino-Russian ties groundless

To some in the West, that China and Russia are becoming closer is reason to worry. So the two joint declarations that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Saturday in Beijing may cause them even more concern.

But that should not be the case.

In the first place, the Saturday declarations are logical outcomes of two heads of state comparing notes about bilateral ties, on the occasion of two historical anniversaries - China and Russia pledged to build an equal, trustful partnership of strategic cooperation oriented toward the 21st century 20 years ago, and signed a treaty on friendly cooperation 15 years ago.