Xi, Putin form anti-Trump alliance

Pushed to a corner under sanctions and trade dispute with the United States, China has formed an alliance with Russia. Huawei's Guo Ping, one of the company's chairmen on rotation, struck a deal with Alexei Kornya, President and CEO of Russian mobile phone operator MTS, at Kremlin on Wednesday (local time) to build Russia's first 5G wireless network. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin applauded at the deal, promising to cooperate after their summit.

The deal is seen as Putin’s overt support of embattled Huawei, which has been under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. Guo said he was “very happy” with the agreement “in an area of strategic importance like 5G.”

In a joint statement, Xi and Putin criticized the U.S., saying that they are opposed to unnecessarily restrict telecommunication technology products’ market access and exports of high-tech products under the pretext of national security.

The two leaders also said in the statement that the political resolution of the Korean Peninsula issues should maintain the goal of exchanging denuclearization with North Korea’s security and development, opposing the U.S. stance on seeking the North’s denuclearization first. They also urged the U.S. to stop developing global missile defense systems without any restrictions, signaling that they will raise issue with the U.S. deployment of its THAAD antimissile system in South Korea.


Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com