Beijing-Moscow treaty an example of major-power relationship

The fruitful interaction between China and Russia in the past decade or so has generated a benign spillover effect on regional order and transnational cooperation, said a senior Chinese official during a recent Beijing-based seminar celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.

Dai Bingguo, former state councilor, said the 2001 treaty will keep serving as the legal foundation of their bilateral relationship, which features "nonalignment", "non-confrontation", and is "not targeted at any third party", in this century.

"The signing of the treaty is not only exemplary but also inspiring as China reached similar agreements with a number of Shanghai Cooperation Organization members and Afghanistan afterwards", Dai added.

His comment were echoed by Su Ge, president of the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, who also believed the Beijing-Moscow treaty would bolster the bilateral strategic cooperation as a fundamental guideline in years to come.

"The time-tested treaty is being implemented well by both countries to enhance mutual political trust," said EvgenyKozhokin, deputy director of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies in Moscow.

"Apart from their closeness in the UN Security Council affairs, China and Russia, two of the five permanent members of the UNSC, also aim to prolong such interaction by showing full respect to the territorial integrity of each other," said Kozhokin.

"As for Russia, it has long acknowledged the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China."