The Chinese foreign minister called Moscow the “most important strategic partner” to Beijing as war rages between Russia and Ukraine. “No matter how perilous the international landscape, we will maintain our strategic focus and promote the development of a comprehensive China-Russia partnership in the new era,” Wang Yi told reporters at a news conference. “The friendship between the two peoples is iron clad,” he said and noted that Chinese ties to Russia constitute “one of the most crucial bilateral relationships in the world.”