A table fifty centimeters wide gives a sense of proximity between China and Russia. It cannot be a coincidence that the Kremlin ceremonial has seated Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin almost shoulder to shoulder. Since unleashing the aggression on Ukraine, the tsar has distanced himself from everything and everyone, confining visitors and collaborators to the other end of a six-metre-long oval table. The rule could not apply to “dear friend†who came from Beijing precisely to break the isolation of the Russian leader.
Putin immediately thanked saying he was «Always ready to negotiate», to have “respect” for the proposed solution elaborated by Beijingto want to study it withXi and to be willing to provide “clarifications”. To show even more gratitude for the visit, he added that «Russia is a bit envious» for China’s rapid development in recent decades. He was probably sincere on this point: Moscow is now considered Beijing’s poor sister.
In the diplomatic minuet Xi signed an editorial on Rossiyskaya Gazeta where he asks «a rational way» to get out of the Ukrainian crisis (which he always avoids calling an invasion) and re-presents the proposal for a 12-point “political solution” as an attempt to “represent as far as possible the unitary views of the world community”. Xi concludes that complex problems do not have easy solutions and praises the “eternal friendship between China and Russia handed down from generation to generation” (in reality, the two empires have historically been more divided and suspicious of each other than fraternal neighbors) .
Simultaneously the Renmin Ribao(People’s Daily) Beijing published a speech by Putin «grateful for China’s balanced line on the events taking place in Ukraine and for his understanding of the real causes». The tsar associates Russia and China as victims of “double containment by the United States“. Xi also publicly complained about the American encirclement and said yesterday that “it is true that our two nations share the same and some similar goals”.
From Beijing, the Foreign Affairs spokesman criticizes Putin’s indictment by the International Criminal Court: «The court in The Hague must respect the immunity of heads of state, without using double standards». Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s praetorian, also spoke on the subject, advising the judges in The Hague on Telegram to “always look at the sky, because a hypersonic missile can always arrive”. It shouldn’t be dismissed only as an incendiary boutade: given the violent end of numerous opponents of the Kremlin abroad, it sounds like intimidation.
Today Xi and Putin are discussing political and economic cooperation. Trade has risen to 185 billion dollars and Putin already expects it to reach 200 this year. Transactions on Russian gas and oil are now settled mainly in yuan: analysts note that the Central Bank of Moscow is linked to a currency strictly controlled by Beijing.
What they wanted to communicate to the world was said and exhibited around the table. Putin shows he is not alone. Xi has more messages: he dresses as a global statesman; he covers his solidarity with Moscow with the 12 points ranging from the ceasefire to the reconstruction of the devastated Ukraine; he tries to convince the Europeans of his peacemaking goodwill; finally he tells Joe Biden that China can always turn to Russia to break the encirclement on the Asian front.
Hopefully a summit (at least by telephone) with Volodymyr Zelensky, but here Xi will have to be more cautious, because the Ukrainian president is a great communicator and could reveal the true position that emerged from an interview.
Chinese political scientist Wang Huyao asks to give Beijing mediation a chance. He explains that “it is credible because by stopping the war, Xi would avoid the further weakening of his Russian partner and would relaunch economic dialogue with Europe”.
Beijing also lets old grievances seep through: “China has often paid a high price for alliances with Russia,” historian Feng Yujun said in a conference. Xi and Putin are almost the same age, the Chinese leader was born in 1953, the Russian in 1952. It is known that Xi admires his colleague for his decisiveness (the Chinese on social media call him «Pu da di», «great emperor Pu»). But there is a big difference in the biographies of the two leaders: ‘Xi as a mature man has experienced a success story with China’s growth and wants to continue the march forward; in Putin’s perception, Russia’s past was better than the present», observed immediately after the beginning of the adventure in Ukraine Sergey Aleksashenko, deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank in the 1990s.
One of the infinite Chinese idioms reads: “They sleep together, but have different dreams”. It seems perfect for the two «great friends» Xi and Putin. It can be added that they share a nightmare: the encirclement by the West