A JUNIOR-XI-JINPING PARTNER
Putin, who is now obviously Xi’s junior partner, is also expected to visit Beijing, indicating that Russia and China have a common goal in mind when it comes to putting an end to the western-dominated international order and limiting US and Western influence in what they both see as their wealthy interest zones across Eurasia.
Russia continues to emphasize its ties to China, in part because it has some other options besides countries that are considered to be international pariahs like North Korea and Iran.
Trade along the New Eurasian Land Bridge, an inland road connection between China and Europe that was once a significant transportation route for Chinese exports to European markets, has been significantly reduced by American sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow’s warfare against Ukraine.
Instead, transportation roads avoiding Russia have become more significant, such as the Middle Corridor, which connects China with the EU via central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the South Caucasus. Soviet hopes for closer ties between the BRI and Moscow’s post-Soviet financial consolidation program, the Eurasian Economic Union, have also been dashed by this.
It is significant that Putin was invited to visit Beijing by Xi, but it is also noticeable that this is not just a intergovernmental matter. Putin’s trip to Moscow does, at best, give the Russian president a chance to speak with Xi in the margins of the summit intended to commemorate the BRI— a project that is closely related to him personally— in contrast to his trip there in March.
China also has and pursues different alternatives in its international relations. At the APEC conference in San Francisco in November, there is still a chance that US President Joe Biden and Xi will cross paths. Josep Borrell, the head of the EU’s foreign plan, also traveled to China, perhaps to get ready for an EU-China summit later this year.