[News Weekly]The Trump-Xi meeting ends, the coalition is closer, but the truce is indefinite | Russia-Uzbekistan war | Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia | Kishida Fumio’s visit to Ukraine

[New Tang Dynasty Beijing time, March 26, 2023]Xi Jinping visited Russia on the 20th and held talks with Putin for more than 4 hours. What did they talk about? What are the highlights? Before leaving, Xi Jinping left a word to Putin. What did he say? What’s the point? On the occasion of Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia, the Japanese Prime Minister made a surprise visit to Ukraine, and the itinerary was highly confidential. What signal did Fumio Kishida’s move reveal? This issue of the weekly magazine, for your inventory.

On March 21, the second day of Xi Jinping’s overseas visit, he held formal talks with Putin in the Kremlin. The two discussed issues such as bilateral relations and the war between Russia and Ukraine in a closed-door meeting.

The two sides then issued a joint statement declaring that deepening the partnership is in the “fundamental interests” of both countries and that the Ukrainian crisis should be resolved “through peaceful talks”.

On the evening of the 21st, Putin hosted a dinner in honor of Xi Jinping, and then personally sent Xi Jinping away from the Kremlin. The two sides had a brief conversation before leaving.

Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party: “We are now facing a century-old change, and we are now working together to promote it.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin: “I agree, safe travels.”

On the morning of the 22nd local time, Xi Jinping left Moscow, concluding his three-day state visit to Russia.

How the CCP’s peace proposal will affect the Russo-Ukraine war and whether Putin will really move towards a ceasefire based on this have attracted wide attention from the outside world.

Current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan: “The ceasefire that Putin hopes for is a ceasefire under the premise of maintaining the status quo, that is, the four states of Ukraine that he occupies will actually be merged into Russia’s territory. This is a ceasefire. It is not a ceasefire in the true sense, but just a bandit who snatched something from someone else and just quit. A real ceasefire must be Russia’s unconditional withdrawal of troops and the return of all occupied territories in Ukraine.”

In addition to the Ukraine issue, both sides have focused on a number of “mutually beneficial” trade cooperation. China and Russia stated that they will focus on developing trade in three areas in the future.

The joint statement clearly stated that “Russia needs a prosperous and stable China, and China needs a strong and successful Russia.”

Experts pointed out that, as expected by the outside world, the main purpose of Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow this time is to join hands with Putin to fight against the West.

Whether the CCP will give Russia more diplomatic, economic and even military support in the name of cooperation in the future deserves attention.

Yokogawa, an expert on China issues: “The cooperation between China and Russia, the combination of Russia’s energy and the CCP’s production capacity, and the combination of Russia’s military and the CCP’s economy make this threat to the world more realistic.”

White House National Security Council spokesman Kirby refused to make any interpretation of the Sino-Russian joint statement, but pointed out that the CCP’s position on the Ukrainian war has not been neutral and impartial at all.

Kirby: “China has not been impartial in any way, it has not condemned the invasion, it has not stopped buying Russian oil and energy, Xi Jinping flew to Moscow and did not speak to Zelensky, and more Has not been to Ukraine.”

Kirby pointed out that if the CCP really wants to abide by the UN Charter and international law as stated in the joint statement, it should urge Putin to withdraw its troops immediately and end the war.

On the same day, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg warned that the CCP and Russia are getting closer in the military, economic, political and diplomatic fields, and the outside world will pay close attention to whether the CCP will provide Russia with lethal weapons.

NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg: “We have seen some indications that Russia has made this request, and the Chinese authorities are also considering this issue.”

On the other hand, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Ukraine on the morning of the 21st.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kishida held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital Kiev, expressing Japan’s solidarity and firm support, emphasizing his firm opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and defending the international order based on the rule of law.

The surprise visit marks that all the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have all traveled to Ukraine in person to express their support.

And Fumio Kishida’s visit to Ukraine happened to coincide with the sensitive time when Xi Jinping visited Russia. Experts speculate that this may not be a pure coincidence.

Heigo Sato, a professor of international politics at Japan’s Takushoku University: “The Japanese side must have some kind of calculation, thinking that Kishida’s visit should be at the same time as (Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia), or a little earlier, so that President Xi’s visit to Moscow may be downplayed.”

At the meeting between the leaders of China and Russia, 18 European countries agreed to jointly purchase ammunition to aid Ukraine, and U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced that the government will add an additional US$350 million in military aid, including tanks, missiles and other weapons.

Comprehensive report by Liang Dong and Chen Li of NTD News Weekly