Sino-Russian Treaty Breaks away from Cold War Mentality, Jiang

Chinese President Jiang Zemin said that the China-Russia Treaty of Good-neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation broke away from the Cold War mentality and stresses a new type state-to-state relationship.

Jiang made the remarks in a recent interview with the New York Times on August 8.

Jiang and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the treaty in Jiang's July visit to Russia.

The treaty has charted a long-term development course for China- Russia relations in the 21st century, Jiang said.

"It stipulates, among others, that the two signatory parties shall develop a long-term strategic partnership of all-round cooperation, good-neighborliness, friendship, equality and trust in accordance with the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and the Five Principles of Peaceful Co- existence," he said.

"It is a crystallization of the broad common interests that the two countries share in the bilateral relations and international affairs," he said.

Breaking away from the Cold War mentality according to which state-to-state relations would be either aligned or antagonistic, the treaty stressed a new type state-to-state relationship, Jiang said.

Such a relationship "is not alliance or confrontation, nor is it targeted against any third country," he said.

On such a basis, states should enhance their mutual understanding, trust and cooperation, he said. "They should seek security through mutual trust and conduct cooperation to their mutual benefit," he noted.

The signing of the treaty has lent legal force to the peace concept that China and Russia should be each other's friends from generation to generation and should never run against each other, he said.

According to Jiang, the treaty has been very well received in China and Russia as well as in the world. The international community has highly spoken "both for its contents and significance," he said.

"It is believed that the establishment of a new-type state-to- state relationship between China and Russia is conducive to the promotion of a multi-polar world and of world peace and stability and to the establishment of a new international order," he said.

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