Medvedev seeks assurances in China

By Ian Ransom

BEIJING (Reuters) - New Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrives in Beijing on Friday, offering energy deals and military cooperation but seeking pledges of solidarity with resurgent China at a time when ties with the West are strained.

Moscow has been annoyed by what it sees as Western attempts to contain its diplomatic ambitions and keep Russian companies out of lucrative markets. It will be keen to shore up support in China, which it sees as a potential ally against a Western world order.

"Our foreign policy must be reasonable, pragmatic, but also friendly and open. And we certainly count the People's Republic of China among our most important foreign partners," Medvedev told Chinese reporters in an interview, a transcript of which was posted on the Kremlin government website on Thursday.

Medvedev is to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday, with the leaders expected to sign a joint communique outlining common ground in international policy.

"In these documents there will be a lot of answers and elaborations showing the shared position of China and Russia on major international issues including new world order, international stability, new challenges and threats and so on," Russian ambassador to China Sergey Razov said this week.

"Also on sensitive issues, including Iranian and Korean nuclear issues among others, we have a common position."

China and Russia have frustrated Western moves to thwart Iran's atomic ambitions, using their permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council to water down sanctions. Both are involved in multilateral talks to rein in North Korea's nuclear programme.

The two countries have also proposed a treaty to ban weapons in space, in the face of U.S. plans for a missile defence shield in eastern Europe which Moscow suspects will be used to spy on Russia's missile arsenal.