Xi Jinping welcomed Vladimir Putin to Beijing with pomp and pageantry, just days after hosting Donald Trump. But as Russia’s war in Ukraine makes Moscow increasingly dependent on China, and western leaders thaw relations with Beijing, what does the power imbalance mean for Xi and Putin’s relationship? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat The Guardian
Tag: Vladimir Putin
Same but different: how Xi and China welcomed Trump and Putin
Days after Donald Trump was greeted in Beijing with a military band, an honour guard and dozens of youths waving American and Chinese flags, Vladimir Putin arrived in China to an almost identical spectacle. The choreography of the two welcomes appeared deliberately mirrored, designed to showcase Beijing’s ability to host leaders from Washington and Moscow with equal grandeur. But China also made sure the differences were noticed. Trump was met at the airport by China’s vice-president, a largely ceremonial role outside the Communist party’s real power structure, while Putin was…
Xi and Putin highlight close China-Russia ties during Beijing visit – video
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have praised relations between their countries. During Putin’s two-day visit to Beijing, bilateral talks between the leaders reaffirmed Russia and China as close partners in trade and international affairs The Guardian
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin meet in Beijing less than a week after Trump visit
Xi Jinping welcomed Russian president Vladimir Putin with pomp and pageantry as the pair kicked off talks in the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday morning, days after the Chinese leader hosted Donald Trump in the same location. Chinese soldiers stood in position as a military band played the Russian and Chinese national anthems for the leaders in central Beijing. Children waving Russian and Chinese flags and cheered “Welcome, welcome!” in Chinese, before the pair entered the Great Hall. The scene was reminiscent of Trump’s high-profile meeting with Xi…
Vladimir Putin to arrive in Beijing for state visit hot on heels of Trump
Vladimir Putin is due to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a state visit, four days after Donald Trump left China. Putin’s visit to China – his 25th, according to Chinese state media – reflects Beijing’s growing confidence on the world stage as a centre of global diplomatic activity. It also underscores the deep relationship between Putin and China’s leader, Xi Jinping. The two men have met more than 40 times, far outstripping Xi’s encounters with any western leaders. “Hosting two of the most powerful leaders in the world in…
From sanctioned cars to beauty clinics, Russian rubles have flowed into China’s border towns since Ukraine war
Suited and booted in a navy twinset tracksuit and colourful high-top trainers, Wang Runguo is hustling. Darting across the gleaming floors of his cavernous car showroom, the 45-year-old from one of China’s poorest provinces is closing on yet another deal. It is all in a day’s work for the man whose salary has more than doubled in the past year thanks to a well-timed pivot: from corn to cars; from China to Russia. This time last year Wang was working for an agricultural company that grew corn and soya beans…
Xi Jinping prepares to welcome Vladimir Putin to China, four days after hosting Donald Trump
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin exchanged “congratulatory letters” on Sunday ahead of the Russian president’s visit to Beijing this week, four days since Donald Trump left China after a high-stakes summit. Xi, China’s leader, said bilateral cooperation between Russia and China had “continuously deepened and solidified”, with this year marking the 30th anniversary of the two countries’ strategic partnership, according to Chinese state media. Putin’s visit to Beijing is scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday. An article published in state media tabloid the Global Times on Monday said the visits of…
Autocracy is rising in the west. But the global south proves it’s not inevitable | Kenneth Roth
There is plenty to worry about in the global contest between democracy and autocracy. Iran’s violent repression of antigovernment protests in January crushed the latest effort to challenge a ruthless regime. In many European countries, including Britain, Germany and France, far-right parties seem ascendant. And Donald Trump is doing what he can to undermine democracy in the United States. Yet a closer analysis shows that autocrats are often running scared of their people. And surprisingly, democracy these days seems sometimes to be held in higher esteem in the global south…
Expiry of nuclear weapons pact between US and Russia risks new arms race
The New Start treaty between the US and Russia will expire on Thursday, removing the last remaining mutual limits on the world’s two biggest nuclear arsenals. The milestone will be a death knell for more than five decades of arms control at a time of surging global instability, contributing to a general collapse of the rules-based international order established after the second world war. “This is a new moment, a new reality – we are ready for it,” Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told Russian news agencies during a…
China is leading the charge to nuclear Armageddon – and Starmer barely noticed | Simon Tisdall
Keir Starmer’s tentative pivot to the Dragon Throne has played well in Beijing, though not in Trumpland. That’s partly because, like other needy western leaders, Britain’s prime minister did not dwell on awkward subjects such as human rights abuses, the Jimmy Lai travesty, spying and Taiwan. But in talks with President Xi Jinping, one vital issue was avoided altogether and should not have been: China’s dangerous, unexplained, secretive and rapid buildup of nuclear weapons. More than the climate crisis, global hunger, Kaiser Trump’s Prussian militarism and the ever prevalent threat…