China praises Putin anti-missile stance

Putin and Jiang both oppose Bush's NMD

By CNN's Rose Tang

BEIJING, China -- China has praised Russia for taking a stance against the U.S. missile defense plan.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese president Jiang Zemin telephoned Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Monday night, during which Putin briefed Jiang about his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Putin and Bush met for the first time Saturday in Ljubliana, Slovenia and had a one-on-one talk for nearly two hours.

But Bush failed to win Putin's backing for his national missile defense (NMD) plan that is touted as protection for the U.S., Europe and Russia from the threat of a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear warhead, or biological or chemical weapons.

COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: China Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

To proceed with advance testing of the NMD, the U.S. would have to persuade Russia to accept significant changes in the 1972 ABM Treaty - signed with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War - or unilaterally abandon the treaty.

At a summit of leaders from China, Russia and four central Asian countries in Shanghai just days before the Putin-Bush meeting, Putin and Jiang both repeated their opposition to Bush's missile plan, regarding it as U.S. dominance of world affairs.

In the telephone conversation with Putin on Monday, Jiang praised the Russian leader for repeating his opposition to NMD and said an on-going dialogue between Russia and the U.S. would help preserve " world peace, security and stability".

"I noticed that you reiterated that the anti-ballistic missile treaty was the base for international security. China expresses appreciation on your stance," Jiang was quoted by Xinhua as telling Putin.

Jiang welcomed Bush's plan to attend the APEC summit in Shanghai in autumn and accepted Putin's invitation for a tour to Russia in the near future.