Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday welcomed his “dear friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing, starting off a multilateral summit overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.
Beijing this week hosts representatives of 130 countries for a forum on Xi’s vast trade and infrastructure project — the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
At the top of the guest list is Putin, who is on his first trip to a major global power since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine threw his regime into international isolation.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Sergei Savostyanov / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool
The two leaders met last night at an event commencing the forum, video posted by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.
They then took part in a group photo with other leaders attending the summit.
Putin is due to hold in-depth talks with Xi on the sidelines of the forum today, the Kremlin said, with the war raging between Israel and Palestinian militant organization Hamas looming large over the summit.
“During the talks, special attention will be paid to international and regional issues,” the Kremlin said in a statement, without elaborating.
Western countries, led by the US, have rallied to Israel’s side since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, shooting, stabbing and burning to death more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
The US has asked China to use its influence to help de-escalate the war, which has seen more than 1 million people in the blockaded Gaza Strip flee the relentless bombardment that Israel launched in retaliation for the attack.
China brokered an entente between key Hamas backer Iran and its regional foe Saudi Arabia earlier this year, and is to send its Middle East envoy Zhai Jun (翟雋) to the volatile region this week.
No details have been given about where or when exactly Zhai would travel, although China Central Television has said he would push for a ceasefire and peace talks.
Russia, which has traditionally maintained good relations with both Israeli and Palestinian authorities, has called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict.
In Beijing, Putin is on a mission to strengthen the already strong bond with his communist neighbor. China is Russia’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching a record US$190 billion last year, Beijing customs data showed.
However, while the BRI forum provides a fresh opportunity for Putin and Xi to showcase their alliance, experts do not expect any new major agreements to be announced.
“Russia is aware that China doesn’t want to sign any high publicity deals,” Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center director Alexander Gabuev said.
“China holds all of the cards,” he said.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’