JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Mr. Putin is on the road trying to rally opposition to a proposed U.S. missile defense program. CNN's Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon reports.</s>REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Russian President Vladimir Putin, on his first state visit to China, standing firm with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, defying the United States. They signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to take "all necessary measures" to oppose U.S. plans for national missile defense, a move that would require amending the 1972 Antiballistic Missile treaty. Washington says the NMD system would guard against missiles from countries like North Korea, Iran and Iraq, which are acquiring nuclear and missile technology. But Jiang and Putin say NMD will give the United States "unilateral superiority in military and security matters," and "upset the world's strategic balance."</s>PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): Our two countries share a common position on the international strategic balance. In the world today, in the international situation, this position is very important.</s>MACKINNON: But in their public statements in front of the TV cameras, the two leaders were careful not to name the United States directly, and made clear they're not forming an alliance against it.</s>PRES. JIANG ZEMIN, CHINA: The strategic partnership between China and Russia is not directed at or against any third nation.</s>MACKINNON: Neither China or Russia regard the U.S. as their common enemy. On specific issues, they have common conflicts with the U.S., but not on every issue, not comprehensively.</s>MACKINNON (on camera): Putin's next stop? An unprecedented visit to North Korea, whose missile development program was one of the major reasons why the U.S. proposed a national missile defense system in the first place. Diplomats say Russia and China hope to prove their diplomacy is more effective against missile threats than U.S. technology. Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Beijing.
Putin on Road Trying to Rally Opposition to Proposed U.S. Missile Defense Program