China and Russia Look for a Counterbalance

The new president of China, Hu Jintao, has joined President Vladimir Putin of Russia in a call for a "multipolar world" while condemning "the use of force", as he begins a foreign tour designed to revitalise Chinese diplomacy.

After a week in Russia Mr Hu will attend the G8 conference in France, where China has been given observer status for the first time.

The two presidents are trying to establish a better Sino-Russian understanding which will offset, if not counterbalance, the predominance of the US in the post-Iraqi-war world.

Meeting in Moscow yesterday, they said that they stood for "a multipolar, just and democratic world order" on the basis of international law.

In another thrust at US unilateralism, they called for a peaceful solution on the Korean peninsula, saying scenarios "of forceful pressure or use of force are unacceptable".

They also said that the UN should be given the "central role" in Iraq's reconstruction.

Significantly, before he left home Mr Hu called for more military modernisation of China. His senior military advisers appear to have been impressed - and shocked - by the White House's pre-emptive strategy, and now believe that China must do more to hold its own.

But Chinese diplomacy is still based on seeking good relations with the US, at least in the medium term, and its criticism of the occupation of Iraq has been muted.