Less than a week after Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for US President Donald Trump, the Chinese leader is hosting another guest of honor — and this time it’s a close ally.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday for a state visit clearly calibrated to showcase Beijing and Moscow’s alignment in the face of global geopolitical upheaval.
China and Russia are both navigating shifting relationships with the Trump administration and are weighing up whether to play any role in helping to end a US-Iran conflict that has ensnared global oil supplies and distracted Washington from Russia’s own yearslong war in Ukraine.
That Xi is welcoming, within the space of a week, two world leaders who are both locked in seemingly intractable conflicts of their own making will hardly be lost on the Chinese government, which has used Trump’s war with Iran in particular to play up China as responsible, alternative global leader.
And both Beijing and Moscow have also looked to seize on Trump’s upending of traditional US foreign policy to advance their own vision of a world that’s not dominated by American power or a US-led alliance system.
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