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.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS