Donald Trump has embarked on a tour of Asia where he is expected to take part in high-stakes trade talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – telling reporters that he was also open to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump, who left Washington on Friday night, is set for a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first to the region since taking office in January. Trump is set to meet Xi on the last day of his trip to seal a deal to end…
Tag: Kim Jong-un
Trump in Asia: five key questions as US president prepares for diplomatic tour
Donald Trump is about to embark on a tour of Asia that many hope will ease trade tensions with countries in the region and repair damaged ties with China. Trump will begin his trip on Sunday at a meeting of south-east Asian nations in Malaysia, before flying to Japan to meet its new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, early next week. But the most important stop on his itinerary will come at the end of the month, when he is expected to discuss trade, and possibly Taiwan, with Chinese leader Xi…
The axis of upheaval: inside the 12 September Guardian Weekly
Xi Jinping had been waiting for the right moment to serve notice of China’s growing might and influence to the rest of the world, and the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war provided the Mao-suited Chinese leader with the perfect opportunity. Last week’s bombastic (or should that be bomb-tastic?) military parade in Beijing – in the presence of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and a host of other global strongmen – was intended as a show of force and stability to contrast sharply with the chaotic unpredictability…
One by one, leaders learn that grovelling to Trump leads to disaster. When will it dawn on Starmer? | Simon Tisdall
Sucking up to Donald Trump never works for long. Narendra Modi is the latest world leader to learn this lesson the hard way. Wooing his “true friend” in the White House, India’s authoritarian prime minister thought he’d conquered Trump’s inconstant heart. The two men hit peak pals in 2019, holding hands at a “Howdy Modi” rally in Texas. But it’s all gone pear-shaped thanks to Trump’s tariffs and dalliance with Pakistan. Like a jilted lover on the rebound, Modi shamelessly threw himself at Vladimir Putin in China last week. Don…
Xi, Putin, Kim and the optics of a new world order
Waving beatifically over the crowd of 50,000 spectators assembled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, Xi Jinping exuded an aura of confidence that many leaders in the west could only envy. To his left stood North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of an increasingly strident hermit kingdom. To his right was the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Xi’s “old friend” and China’s biggest ally in opposing the US-led world order. The last time that the leaders of these three countries were together in public was at the height of the…
The Guardian view on Xi, Putin and Kim: heed China’s statement of intent, but don’t take it as fact | Editorial
On Wednesday morning, Beijingers living near Tiananmen Square were issued with cold breakfast packs and ordered to refrain from cooking, lest smoke from stoves cloud the skies above the mammoth military parade. China’s Communist party goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that nothing obscures the message of such performances – in this case, that Xi Jinping is reshaping the global order and that China is, in his words, “unstoppable”. The parade marked 80 years since the end of the second world war, positioning China as the critical force in victory…
Weaponised ‘robot wolves’ make cameo at China military parade – video
Weaponised ‘robot wolves’ made a cameo at China’s military parade, perched on armoured vehicles as part of the country’s showcase of military might. The event, marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of the second world war, was largely shunned by western leaders, with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un – pariahs in the west due to the Ukraine war and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions – the guests of honour The Guardian
Daniel Andrews defends decision to attend China military parade alongside Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un
Daniel Andrews has hit back at critics of his decision to attend China’s military parade alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying it was a chance for him to “meet and engage with regional leaders”. The former Victorian premier, known for his interest in bolstering his state’s ties with China while he was in the job, was pictured at the ceremony on Wednesday and was quickly criticised for posing with the so-called “axis of upheaval”. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Myanmar’s junta leader, Min…
Daniel Andrews’ photo with dictators is a glaring reminder of Australia’s hypocrisy on human rights | Daniela Gavshon
A photo of former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews alongside the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, during a military parade in Beijing raised troubling questions. Earlier, former New South Wales premier Bob Carr sought to pre-emptively justify his possible attendance at the event (although he didn’t in the end) in an opinion piece. While it is difficult for the Australian government to control the actions of former officials, the photo still raises the question how the two former premiers found…
Strongmen assemble: Putin, Kim and Xi in Beijing – podcast
It has been a historic week of diplomacy in China. As senior China correspondent Amy Hawkins explains, it started on Sunday, with more than 20 heads of state attending the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Among them were strongmen from across Europe and Asia: presidents Putin of Russia, Erdoğan of Turkey, Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Lukashenko of Belarus and many others. Yet it was not just an array of autocrats – India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, also came to the summit, openly warm to both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.…