00:00Well, two has become three in the studio.
00:03Joining us in our rooftop home is correspondent for the CGTN news network, Yunfei Chao,
00:11who arrived in Moscow with the rest of the Chinese press delegation a few days ago.
00:16Now you've been here, so you've been soaking up the atmosphere and seeing everything.
00:21But tell us, we've seen Xi Jinping arrive.
00:24Why did he, why did more than 20 world leaders, in your view, want to come to Moscow?
00:31Despite obstacles, despite a lot of opposition, why do you think it was so important for them to come?
00:37Well, it's important to commemorate the history itself.
00:41I've been covering the Chinese delegation, been to the airport,
00:44I've been to the bilateral meetings and meeting the press.
00:47Certainly, I would say that for me personally, it's a great honor to commemorate this historic event
00:54with you guys, because if we look at the history, back there 80 years ago,
01:00it was not only just a year for the victory of the Great Patriotic War.
01:04From the China side, it is the Chinese people's war of resistance against the Japanese aggression.
01:09So from the entire world's side, it's the anti-fascist war.
01:12So certainly from the Chinese side, because China has played a vital role in the Asian battlefield,
01:19we suffered a little bit longer than you guys.
01:22It can be traced back to 1971.
01:26So certainly China understands the sacrifices in World War II.
01:31And that's why it totally makes sense for the Chinese President Xi Jinping to come
01:34and pay the state visit to Russia.
01:37I think that also can apply to many other countries who have beared the sacrifices
01:42more than 80 years ago to come over.
01:46And this is really a historic time to remember what's happened in the past and learn from the lessons.
01:53Well, absolutely.
01:54We can also just see we're showing images of President Putin personally welcoming all of them.
01:58And that was, of course, the Kazakh President Tokayev.
02:01So I think it shows you how glad I think he is to be joined by such a strong force
02:07that people, like you said, from all over the world.
02:09And I think it's true that maybe, for example, the Asian theatre of war was slightly overlooked.
02:14But that's not to say, you know, by the European, for example, theatre, right?
02:18But it's not to say that the contribution was obviously and the fight was not as strong.
02:23I mean, the Chinese people lost around 20 million people.
02:26After the Soviet Union, that was the largest contingent that died.
02:30And what's interesting is that President Putin's actually set to visit Beijing in the autumn, right?
02:35There are plans.
02:36And he said that that's in order to celebrate the surrendering of the Japanese forces.
02:42So it seems like these two are really projecting this commitment.
02:47We are brothers in arms here and we are going to stand for the defence of truth and of historical fact.
02:55Do you think that's the way that these two see it?
02:57Obviously, the historical fact you mentioned about that also mentioned about the two presidents.
03:02They should take the advantage of this year of 2025 to remember, to hold a correct view of history.
03:10Now, you mentioned about the sacrifices.
03:12What the gain over the sacrifices is certainly the United Nations model.
03:19Because before the end of the world, the war, China and Russia helped establish the founding of the United Nations.
03:25And that is the unilateralism, unilateral world.
03:29And now, at this moment, we're facing a rising trend of protectionism and unilateralism, sometimes bullying.
03:35It's even more important to uphold the authority of the United Nations.
03:40Well, I think, sorry.
03:42Just a story, Yun.
03:43To pick up on that.
03:44It's interesting, the tone that we had coming out of that Xi-Putin meeting, exactly, about solidarity and compare and contrast that with the tone that's coming out of the White House.
03:53Because you obviously referenced the tariff war.
03:56The U.S. seems to be going gung-ho on all of that.
04:00Do you see differences in approach between these two?
04:04Well, I suppose you could say two opposing sides at the moment.
04:09At least that's the way the U.S. sees it.
04:10Obviously, China has been always advocating dialogue when it comes to any disputes.
04:15When it comes to the trade, I mean, the United States is really raising the bar and saying that, hey, we should reach a deal with the China side.
04:25But China has been always claiming that the United States is saying one thing and doing the other.
04:31I mean, if you want to sit down and talk, certainly the previous thing is that you stop such kind of bullying.
04:38Fascinating just to hear because it's not something the West tends to hear a lot about.
04:45The sacrifices, the sheer amount of debts that came from the East.
04:50Just one stat got me the other day, just before we say goodbye.
04:54Indonesia, a country that not a lot of people hear about in terms of World War II, lost more people than Britain, the U.S. and France all together.
05:06So it really does put it in context and then compare the Soviet Union and China and what they lost in the war.
05:12You know, you see it so well.
05:14Thanks so much for coming into us as well on this chilly and windy but very important day.
05:18So we do appreciate it.
05:20Yunfei Zhao, CGTN correspondent.
05:23Thank you for having me.
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