BEIJING (Sputnik) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed heartful commiserations with the death of famous Russian academic and chairman of the Russia-China Friendship Association, Mikhail Titarenko, Chinese media reported Saturday.
Titarenko died at the age of 82 after severe and prolonged illness on Thursday, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Far Eastern Studies said. He headed the academy’s Far Eastern branch from 1984 to 2015.
Wang expressed "deep grief" to the relatives of Titarenko in a message sent to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to China’s Xinhua news service. Wang spoke highly of Titarenko’s "outstanding contributions to China-Russia ties," the service added.
After graduating Russian and Chinese universities with degrees in philosophy in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Titarenko worked in the diplomatic service at the Soviet consulate in Shanghai and the embassy in Beijing.
