Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said countries outside the region should not interfere in the disputes over the South China Sea.
The Russian president was responding to a question at an energy forum held in Moscow. He also urged regional countries to promote the resolution of the issue based on the basic norms of international law to ensure stability and security in the region.
A week before, Chinese President Xi Jinping had vowed to realize his aim of bringing the democratically run island nation of 24 million people under Beijing’s control by peaceful means.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen responded in a speech, announcing that her government would invest in bolstering its military in order to demonstrate determination to defend.
China does not need to use force in order to achieve its desired reunification with Taiwan, Russian President Vladimir Putin. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, while Taiwan sees itself as separate from China, having ruled itself since splitting from the mainland in 1949 following a protracted civil war.
Speaking at the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow, Putin pointed to Xi’s comments suggesting the possibility of a peaceful unification, and China’s philosophy of statehood to suggest that there is no threat of military confrontation.
“I think China does not need to use force. China is a huge powerful economy, and in terms of purchasing parity, China is the economy number one in the world ahead of the United States now,” the Russian president said.
Putin also addressed tense relations over the South China Sea, where Russia has tried to maintain a neutral stance toward China’s long-standing and internationally repudiated claim to vast swathes of nearby waters.
