China seeks comfort from Russian visit

Russia is a key supplier of military technology to China

(CNN) -- Beijing is seeking reassurance from visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov about the state of bilateral military ties after Moscow's perceived tilt toward NATO.

Ivanov, who is arriving in Beijing on Friday for a three-day visit, is scheduled to meet Chinese counterpart General Chi Haotian and other civilian and military leaders.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said in a regular briefing that this was an important visit because it was Ivanov's first Chinese tour.

Kong said Ivanov would be engaged in a "deep exchange of views" with his hosts on bilateral military ties, as well as issues of mutual interest.

Diplomatic sources in Beijing said the Chinese leadership wanted reassurance from Ivanov, who was in Washington in March, that Moscow's new ties with the U.S. and NATO would not affect his country's intimate military relationship with China.

Given Washington's ban on the export of high-tech material to China, Russia is the most important supplier of sophisticated weapons to China.

Chinese arms manufacturers and research institutes also employ first-rate Russian scientists and engineers.

The diplomatic sources said the Chinese leadership was nervous that the just-announced formation of a NATO-Russian council on security matters might affect China's ability to procure military know-how from its giant neighbor.

Tilt to the West

Meanwhile, Chinese security and diplomatic experts have played down the significance of the Russian-NATO move, which has received slim coverage in the official media.

People's Daily commentator Shi Kedong pointed out that the "NATO-Russian marriage is far from perfect."

He quoted Russian media as saying that "a real partnership relationship (between NATO and Russia) is far from being established."

Shanghai-based security expert Yang Jiemian also cast doubt on the depth and sincerity of the new relationship.

Yang said Moscow's main American strategy was to avoid direct confrontation "so as to seek more time for (economic) self-development."

Sources close to Chinese foreign-policy departments said, however, that senior cadres were deeply worried that the agreement with NATO would mark the start of an irrevocable tilt toward the West by Moscow.