Russian President Vladimir Putin (R), Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd R) and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (3rd R) attend negotiations in the Kremlin.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Great Wall of Kremlin-China
// Russian and Chinese presidents agreed on all agreements
Russian President Vladimir Putin spent half of Monday with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. Kommersant’s special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov couldn’t help noticing the unprecedented signs of attention accorded to China’s President in Moscow yesterday.
Opening his visit to Russia, Hu Jintao said something that he couldn’t hold back:
“During the years of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, the Russian nation has made outstanding achievements in all spheres of life. The Russian president’s ideas for building a strong and rich Russia deeply entered the nation’s heart!” (Only an arrow released by a loving hand from the distance of 100 elbows can enter heart so deeply. – A. K.)
Putin, in his turn, congratulated Hu Jintao with having successfully carried out the session of China’s people’s deputies, and, judging by the grateful expressions of the faces of Chinese top officials, couldn’t say better.
After the talks in narrow and extended circles, some participants came out earlier than the two presidents. Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin was one of the first to appear in the Kremlin’s Malachite Hall. He told journalists about the agreement that he will sign with China’s Railway Minister Lu Jitzun. It turned out later, it was one of the key agreements reached that evening. According to it, Russian Railways company will supply 15 million metric tons of oil to China annually. Yakunin admitted, however, that he fears the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, which is now being rapidly constructed. The pipeline’s branch will go to China, creating competition with Russian Railways.
However, Yakunin spoke about a large-scale project which will easily compensate possible losses. It concerns transporting cargo containers from Asia through Russia to Europe and back.
“Naturally,” admitted Yakunin later, moving aside from journalists, “we won’t be able to compete with ferries amount-wise, but we’ll have better speed and accuracy. We want to begin with 30,000 containers annually, raising it to 250,000 in three years at most.
Speaking about the Rajin-Hassan railway, which will connect the Trans-Korean main railroad with Russia’s Trans-Siberian railroad (an agreement on the Rajin-Hassan’s modernization was signed a year ago), Yakunin told an interesting story.
“We are constructing it now,” he said. “Yet, there indeed was a period of stagnation in this project. Meanwhile, both South and North Korea are interested in the project, for it will help creating Asia-Europe transit corridor.”
“What caused the stagnation?” I asked.
“We have not suggested a certain company as the project’s participant,” replied Yakunin with displeasure. “Frankly speaking, I had suspicions about it from the very beginning. And they were confirmed. But everything is all right now. We will implement the project in spring 2007” (the length of the modernized sector is just 51 kilometers. A. K.).
“Was it a Korean company?” I wondered.
“No,” winced Yakunin. “It was a Russian company.”
“It was not you who suggested it a year ago?”
“Koreans suggested it,” he assured, “and I wasn’t protesting.”
“Why?”
“Sometimes it is necessary to allow people display themselves, so that they show how mistaken others were in choosing them.”
“And you were ready to sacrifice several months to let them display themselves like that?” I asked.
“They would have accused me of having vested interest, had I protested,” shrugged Yakunin.
Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao came out to the Malachite Hall, trying to look as moderately close friends. All possible honors were accorded to China’s president that day. For instance, all access lanes and driveways to the Kremlin, where the talks took place, were barred tightly, which had not happened before. The Red Square was closed for visitors. There was not a single stranger in the Kremlin’s tourist zone which usually remains open regardless of visiting officials.
It was hardly due to security reasons. The Kremlin’s territory has high-level security all right. It rather was an additional, free option among all other signs of respect to the Chinese president (yet, it cost dear to those willing to enter the gorgeous Cathedral Square inside the Kremlin these days of spring vacation).
Ten agreements were signed in the Kremlin on Monday evening: “On cooperation in researching Phobos and Mars” between the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Chinese National Space Administration; a protocol between Russia’s Federal Customs Service and China’s State Customs Department “On establishing pilot data exchange in mutual trade”; agreement “On cooperation between Sberbank of Russia and the State Bank of China’s Development”, and others.
Yet, there was one of the most important agreements, of which Putin said nothing, but Hu Jintao suddenly spoke. China’s president finally agreed during talks on Monday with Putin’s suggestion about creating a joint chamber of commerce for machine-building cooperation. Russia has long insisted on creating the chamber, but China hesitated, not knowing why it should need Russian machine-building.
Apparently, China has eventually realized it. Now it would be great if someone explains that to us.
Andrei Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 27, 2007
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