ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) -- Russia backs China's opposition to any international missile defense system that would cover Taiwan, according to a statement released Thursday by the countries' defense ministers.
The defense ministers of China, Russia, and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan met in the Kazakh capital Astana to discuss military cooperation within an alliance the five countries formed in Shanghai, China in 1996.
A communique adopted at the conference stated the five nations back China's opposition to any "plans for drawing Taiwan into [a] regional antiballistic missile system" (ABM) of any form, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The United States is researching a theater missile defense system (TMD) with Japan. China fears TMD technology could be passed to Taiwan, allowing the island to defend itself against Chinese missiles. Although the two sides have been ruled separately for decades, Beijing views Taiwan as a province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
"The deployment of a regional ABM system in the Asian-Pacific region can result in the upsetting of stability and security in the region," the communique said, according to ITAR-Tass.
Both China and Russia also oppose U.S. plans to a limited national missile defense. Washington says the system could only protect against missiles from small rogue nations, not the kind of massive attack that Russia is capable of launching, but Moscow says the defense would upset the strategic balance and lead to a new arms race.
Participants in Thursday's conference also discussed the implementation of series of confidence-building measures, such as troop reduction, along their mutual borders.
The confidence-building agreements signed in 1996 and 1997 "for the first time created a zone of trust and transparency, predictability and controllability of the military activity in the border strip stretching more than 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles)," the statement Thursday said.
Russia and China had a falling out in the late 1950s, and the Sino-Soviet border became a site of major tensions. But after the Soviet collapse, relations between the two countries have improved considerably.
Russia has been seeking stronger ties with China to counter U.S. influence in international affairs.
The five defense ministers also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, saying the Taliban expansion posed "a serious threat" to their nations, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev told a news conference after the talks, according to ITAR-Tass.
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