On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reunited after a month and a half to discuss global issues, including a joint anti-US strategy at their 44th summit. They reportedly agreed on almost all issues.
According to a report from Beijing insiders on the 3rd, the two leaders demonstrated their strong bond during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. The report noted that the conversation between the two leaders was fluid, facilitated by frequent communications and that Putin had visited China 23 times between May 16th and 17th.
A Beijing political commentator familiar with Russian affairs suggested that China and Russia likely agreed to strengthen their alliance to counter the United States. He mentioned, “The power of the U.S. is too strong for either China or Russia to handle alone. Therefore, a strategic alliance between China and Russia to jointly respond to the U.S. is not a choice but a necessity.” He also believed that this time, there were more detailed discussions on how to counter the U.S.
The Ukraine war was likely also discussed in some form. Of course, Xi would have strongly supported Putin’s position. However, China’s support for Russia’s weapon shortage may not have been discussed. Given China’s position of having to consider the U.S., it’s safe to say this.
It’s also possible that they exchanged views on the need to build a “new security framework,” which Xi will mention at the SCO summit. This is even more likely when recalling that the two leaders discussed this at their summit in May. It is no coincidence that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed a willingness to step ahead on strengthening cooperation with SCO members to such as improve the mechanism to react to security threats and challenges immediately after the summit.
Moreover, Xi’s usual theory opposing hegemonism, power politics, and bloc confrontation will likely be discussed at the discussion table. It could be the case if he emphasized this through his article published in the Kazakhstan media, “Staying True to Our Shared Commitment and Opening a New Chapter in China-Kazakhstan Relations,” before his state visit to Kazakhstan.
There’s no need to mention the Korean Peninsula issue. However, Xi may have expressed a somewhat skeptical stance about the entrenchment of the North Korea-China-Russia structure, which the U.S. and the West take for granted. From China’s perspective, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan-North Korea-China-Russia structure may be quite burdensome. China’s opinion on establishing the alliance between North Korea and Russia would not differ significantly. China is not a situation to welcome with both hands, as it fears a decrease in influence over North Korea.
Despite these slight disagreements, the relationship between China and Russia will undoubtedly be strengthened, assuring the strong bond between the two leaders. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the U.S. and the West will likely face a difficult situation in the future.
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