Russia, China Forge New Links // 24 Accords Signed By Yeltsin in Beijing

BEIJING Russia and China forged a powerful new friendship Friday,signing 24 agreements ranging from pledges of mutual troop reductionsto joint nuclear energy projects and expanded economic ties, whichare meant to generate billions of dollars in trade.

"For the former Soviet Union, China was a potential enemy,"Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said. "But today, for Russia, itis no longer a potential enemy."

Yeltsin acknowledged that other world powers, particularly theUnited States and Japan, could fear that a threatening, 1950s-styleChina-Soviet alliance is about to be revived. But they shouldunderstand, he said, that warmer ties between Russia and China do notthreaten the rest of the world.

"They could react jealously, but there can be no basis forthat," Yeltsin said. "We have equal cooperation. And I think herethe United States and Japan will understand" that Russia and Chinaare only seeking to further their own national interests.

Yeltsin, the man who delivered the death blow to Sovietcommunism, and the staunchly Communist Chinese leadership pointedlyavoided the ideological questions that led to the poisonousChinese-Soviet rift of the 1960s and 1970s. Yeltsin made no commenton China's human rights record.

Instead, Russian officials emphasized the tremendous vistas forcooperation across the world's longest border and the stabilizingeffect an alliance could have.

"This is a major new stage in world politics that will influencethe 21st century, as well," said Vyacheslav Kostikov, Yeltsin'sspokesman. "We're moving toward multipolar politics," in whichRussia cultivates friends wherever it can, rather than concentratingon superpower relations and contacts with Europe.

Chinese officials, though far less forthcoming than theirRussian counterparts, expressed unreserved enthusiasm about Yeltsin'sthree-day visit. Premier Li Peng promised Yeltsin that "No matterhow the situation changes, China will develop long-standing, stableand friendly relations of cooperation with Russia," Foreign Ministryspokesman Wu Jianmin said.