Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a two-day state visit to China this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, in the latest show of unity between the two authoritarian allies against the U.S.-led Western liberal global order.
Quick Read
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled for a two-day state visit to China this week, where he will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
- Discussions during the visit will cover bilateral relations, international, and regional issues of mutual interest, although specific details have not been disclosed.
- This trip marks Putin’s first foreign visit since starting his fifth term as president, following an invitation from Xi.
- China has supported Russia politically amid the Ukraine conflict and continues to export non-weapon items that aid the Russian war effort, while also being a major buyer of Russian energy.
- While China positions itself as neutral in the Ukraine conflict, it maintains a “no limits” relationship with Russia and opposes Western sanctions against Moscow.
- The visit is set against a backdrop of both nations seeking to expand their influence globally, challenging Western democracies and NATO, and comes days before the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, underscoring regional tensions.
The Associated Press has the story:
Russian President Putin to make a state visit to China this week
Newslooks- BEIJING (AP) —
Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a two-day state visit to China this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, in the latest show of unity between the two authoritarian allies against the U.S.-led Western liberal global order.
Putin will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his visit starting on Thurday, the ministry said, saying the two leaders would discuss “cooperation in various fields of bilateral relations … as well as international and regional issues of common concern.” No details were mentioned.
The Kremlin in a statement confirmed the trip and said Putin was going on Xi’s invitation. It said that this will be Putin’s first foreign trip since he was sworn in as president and began his fifth term in office.
China has backed Russia politically in the conflict in Ukraine and has continued to export machine tools, electronics and other items seen as contributing to the Russian war effort, without actually exporting weaponry.
China is also a major export market for energy supplies that keep the Kremlin’s coffers full.
China has sought to project itself as a neutral party in the conflict, but has declared a “no limits” relationship with Russia in opposition to the West. The sides have also held a series of joint military drills and China has consistently opposed economic sanctions against Russia in response to its now two-year-old campaign of conquest against Ukraine.
The two continent-sized authoritarian states are increasingly in dispute with democracies and NATO while seeking to gain influence in Africa, the Middle East and South America.
Putin’s visit comes just days ahead of Monday’s inauguration of William Lai Ching-te as the next president of Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that China claims as its own territory and threatens to annex by force if necessary.
Xi returned last week from a five-day visit to Europe, including stops in Hungary and Serbia, countries viewed as close to Russia. The trip, Xi’s first to the continent in five years, was seen as an attempt to increase China’s influence and drive a wedge between the EU and NATO on one side, and a yet-to-be-defined bloc of authoritarian nations on the other underpinned by Chinese economic influence that has been wavering amid a housing crisis and dramatically slower domestic economic growth.
