Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing for a trip to Central Asia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders. This reports the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper “Business” reported that the regional summit will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in mid-September. It’s about a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan work together.
The temporary addition of the trip to Xi’s schedule is believed to have been prompted in part by prominent US politician Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. This is seen in Beijing as an increase in Western pressure on China, which has traditionally reacted negatively to foreign interference.
President Xi has not traveled internationally since the coronavirus pandemic broke out more than 2.5 years ago. Putin visited him earlier this year, and he was in Beijing for the opening of the Olympics. At this summit, Putin spoke of “unprecedented close relations” between the two countries.
war
That was before the Russian attack on Ukraine, which China did not condemn. Then the two leaders spoke on the phone. In June, Xi told Putin that China “stands behind Russia in sovereignty and security.”
China is pushing for a negotiated solution to the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this month that he was trying to reach out to Xi to help end the war.
Does Putin have a paralyzed arm?
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