YELTSIN GETS CHECHNYA SUPPORT FROM BEIJING AND REAFFIRMS CHINA’S CLAIM OVER TAIWAN.

Aside from President Boris Yeltsin’s bumptious saber-rattling (see the Monitor, December 10), last week’s December 9-10 Russian-Chinese summit meeting in Beijing produced few surprises. Indeed, the informal affair, which included several meetings between Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, epitomized the strengths and weaknesses of the “strategic partnership” which unites the two countries. On the positive side–from Moscow’s and Beijing’s perspective–are both their common views on a host of key international issues and their continued and substantial arms dealings. The weaknesses of the relationship are equally obvious, however. Declarations of friendship have not been substantiated either by a significant increase in economic cooperation or by practical steps in the security sphere. This appears to stem from the fact that both countries–but China in particular–are unwilling to risk any real rupture in relations with the United States and the West. There is also the unvoiced truth that, despite the common ground Moscow and Beijing have found more recently, the two Asian giants continue to view each other as regional rivals and potential military threats.

For all their differences, this summit meeting did occur at an especially significant time, and the two leaders were determined to take advantage of it. For Yeltsin in particular, the talks afforded an opportunity to escape intense Western criticism over Russia’s military crackdown in Chechnya and to demonstrate to the West that Russia does indeed have powerful friends in other places. That the still ailing Yeltsin made the arduous trip to China–while simultaneously postponing talks with the German and French leaders scheduled for later this month–underscored the importance of the Beijing talks to the Kremlin.

And Yeltsin got what he most wanted in Beijing: full support from the Chinese leadership for Russia’s military operations in the Caucasus. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters following the December 9 discussions, “Jiang Zemin completely understands and fully supports Russia’s actions in combating terrorism and extremism in Chechnya.” In the resulting key document–a Chinese-Russian joint statement–the Chinese government reiterated its view that “the Chechnya issue is purely the internal affair of Russia, and China supports the moves taken by Russia to crack down on separatist forces.” The statement also noted that Russia, in return, “supports China’s principled stand on the issue of Taiwan.” That is, Yeltsin reaffirmed Moscow’s backing for China’s claim over Taiwan (AP, December 9-10).

MOSCOW AND BEIJING DON’T WANT TO PLAY SECOND FIDDLE TO U.S. OR NATO.