China said on Tuesday it is glad to see Moscow and Washington improve their relations, a comment that came as US President Donald Trump triggered a tsunami of criticism at home for his "weak" and "treasonous" performance at a news conference on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"China hopes the two countries will strengthen communication and dialogue and expand their cooperation, which will benefit world peace and development as well as unite the international community to jointly tackle common challenges," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing.
"We have confidence in the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, which will not be affected by any external factors," she said, adding that "our position on developing relations with the US is consistent and clear".
Back in the US, many, who had expected Trump to confront Putin over alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, were alarmed at Trump's talk at the news conference when he said that Putin had given him an "extremely strong and powerful" denial of Russian involvement.
