CMC VC-Ready To Work w/Russia To 'Actively Respond' To Sec Threats

(MNI)-London: Chinese state media carrying comments from the Vice Chairman of china's Central Military Commission after holding talks with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. General Zhang Youxia held talks with Shoigu on the sidelines of the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, a high-level military-focused event. Reports state that Zhang told Shoigu, "China is ready to work with Russia to actively respond to various security threats and challenges", and that "China is willing to work together to maintain global strategic balance and stability."

• The comments regarding working w/Russia on an 'active response' to security threats are likely to come under scrutiny in the West as a potential signal of much closer military or intelligence-sharing cooperation between Moscow and Beijing.
• In his address to the forum, Shoigu claimed that “Having provoked an acute crisis in Europe, the West is seeking to expand the conflict potential to the Asia-Pacific region, and in several directions,"
• The increasingly close 'no-limits partnership' between China and Russia remains a cause for concern in Washington, D.C., There will be hopes that the sending of a US delegationto the forum, combined with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting with President Joe Biden last week, will smooth the ground for a summit between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November.