Xi’s minister to visit Russia amid protest by West

Beijing, August 14

Defence Minister Li Shangfu of Xi Jinping-led China is visiting Russia and Belarus in a show of support for those nations which the West has sought to isolate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Western nations have opposed such visits.

Li departed on Monday on the six-day trip, during which he will deliver an address at the Moscow Conference on International Security and meet with defence leaders from Russia and other nations, the Defence Ministry said on its social media account, citing spokesperson Col Wu Qian.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to speak at the conference on the topic of the “Majority World countries’ search for ways to development outside Western mechanisms, including strengthening multilateral associations of a new type”, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported. — Agencies