Russian, China’s “No” Firm on Syria Intervention, Iran Attack

Russia and China have set two standards: ‘No’ to bombing Iran, and another ‘No’ to regime change in Syria brought about through a Western intervention campaign.

Moscow and Beijing on Wednesday reaffirmed their strong opposition to intervention in Syria in a joint statement issued after talks between China's leaders and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

"Russia and China are decisively against attempts to regulate the Syrian crisis with outside military intervention, as well as imposing a policy of regime change, including within the Security Council," it said. The giant neighbors also came out against any use of military force or "unilateral sanctions" against Iran in the statement, released after China's Premier Wen Jiabao met visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Putin and Ahmadinejad will meet on Thursday, as Moscow prepares to host more talks later this month aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear program.
Moscow and Beijing have remained in lockstep over Syria, opposing foreign intervention and forced regime change in the country.
On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Beijing heeding opposition groups' calls for the forcible removal of the Assad regime would lead to "catastrophe" in the state.

He reaffirmed China and Russia's support for the Annan plan, and called for a new international meeting on Syria to include Turkey and Iran. "We think it is necessary to call a meeting of countries that truly have an influence on various opposition groups," he added, citing the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Arab League, the European Union, Turkey and Iran, after meetings with Chinese leaders.
The two countries have also agreed to build military ties, as the United States turns the focus of its huge firepower towards the Pacific -- China's backyard. "Not long ago in the Yellow Sea, we successfully carried out the first Russian-Chinese joint naval exercise," said Putin during a meeting with China's likely next leader, Vice President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
China's President Hu Jintao, speaking in an interview released by the official Xinhua news agency Wednesday, said countries should refrain from escalating the issue of Iran's nuclear program.

Hu also said China, Russia and other SCO member countries had vowed to play a bigger role in Afghanistan, as NATO forces prepare to pull out. "We will... play a greater role in the peaceful reconstruction process in Afghanistan," Hu said in an interview published in the People's Daily newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party.

• Russian-Chinese Summit stresses categorical rejection of foreign intervention in Syria
• NATO has no intention to intervene in Syria

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