China Russia push multi-polar world

[Chris Burford <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

   Chinese, Russian Presidents Confer Again

   BEIJING, December 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin
and Russian President Boris Yeltsin held the second round of their
informal summit here this morning

...

   The two sides reiterated their mutual support in safeguarding
national unity, sovereign and territorial integrity, and advocate
pushing forward the formation of a multi-polar world on the basis
of the United Nations Charter and existing principles of
international laws.

....

   Moreover, President Jiang re-affirmed that China supports
Russia's move to crack down on terrorism and separatism and
safeguard its national unity and territorial integrity.
   The Chechen issue is an internal affair of Russia, Jiang said,
emphasizing that no country has the right to intervene in a
sovereign nation's crackdown on the terrorist and splittist
activities within its territory.


________________________

This statement shows a strengthening alliance between Russia and China
under calls for a multi-polar world, and against the neo-liberal agenda led
by US hegemonism.

It virtually explicitly puts the right of countries to non-interference
above the democratic rights of individuals or of ethnic minorities within
those countries. The justification for this is global capitalism centred on
the USA.

The fight for a multi-polar world is a very progressive struggle and possible.

 It is striking today that within the same year of the recent war the
European Union has agreed to set up a 50,000 strong armed force which could
in principle act separately from the US.

However there is a complex process of interpenetration of global forces.
For progressive people in the west I cannot see that it is progressive to
oppose economic pressures from the IMF in favour of democratic rights in
East Timor or in Chechnya, especially when for imperialist reasons the west
is strongly tempted to appease the corrupt and oppressive status quo.
Despite the increased noises over Chechnya, basically the west does not
want to protest too loudly because it wants to work with Yeltsin and the
corrupt oligarchs in colonizing Russia. It does not object to Russia trying
to become a sub-imperialist power in the process.

Or should progressives simply support the stand of the joint Russian
Chinese meeting?

Chris Burford

London