BEIJING, April 19 — China’s top security official Chen Wenqing will visit Russia at the weekend and attend a gathering of counterparts from across the world, Beijing said today.
Chen, a Politburo member who heads the ruling Communist Party’s powerful Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC), will travel to Russia from Saturday until April 28, Beijing’s foreign ministry said.
He will attend the 12th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues, spokesman Lin Jian said.
China and Russia have ramped up economic cooperation and diplomatic contacts in recent years and their strategic partnership has only grown closer since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict but has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow for its offensive.
The United States has tried to increase the pressure on Beijing in recent weeks, seeking to push China to reduce its alleged military support for Russia.
China is “contributing to Russia’s ability to prosecute” the war in ways that threaten all of Europe, a senior US official told reporters this week on condition of anonymity.
“In creating this industrial base they are expanding Russia’s ability to produce equipment, produce munitions, and it ought to give one pause about what that capacity is going to be,” the official said.
Chen previously served as head of China’s Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s top civilian intelligence and secret police agency.
He also played a key role in a vast campaign against official graft that has marked President Xi Jinping’s time in power.
The CPLC is the Communist Party’s top security body and oversees all law enforcement agencies, including the police force. — AFP
