China and Russia are negotiating a treaty to counter the United States hegemony in world affairs and oppose its proposals for building a missile defence shield, the Washington Post reported from Beijing. The pact would be signed during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Russia later this year.

In an interview to the post last week, Chinese deputy prime minister Qian Qichen said the treaty will be nothing special and that it will not be an alliance. However, Lu Nanquan, deputy director of the Centre for Russian studies at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: In some ways, China and Russia have come this far because of the United States. Shen Dingli, a security expert at Fudan University in Shanghai, said it indicates not only China but also Russia has a need to balance America.
The post quoted diplomats as saying that the treaty is expected to include a broad statement on China's strategic partnership with Russia and sections on Russia's weapons sales to china and support for china's space programme, though these might be in unpublished codicils. The treaty would be a diplomatic success for Russia, which has already signed a treaty with North Korea and announced expansion of military ties with Iran, the report quoted anonymous officials as saying.

For China, the treaty marks another step in a policy of avoiding heavy reliance on the US as a big power interlocutor, modernizing its military and working to dilute American power in Asia, it said. Bureau Report