Putin and Trump both went to Beijing with different goals – but China is still on top (Picture: AP/Getty)
Just days after Donald Trump visited Beijing in a lavish state visit,Vladimir Putin paid a visit to his dear friend Xi Jinping and bragged about their friendship.
Both world leaders were welcomed by Xi with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People,with the Chinese President expressing delight at both Trump and Putin for visiting him.
But below the smiles and handshakes,both China and Russia were addressing the elephant in the room – the recent state visit from Trump.
The similarities between the two visits were hard to miss. Red carpets,dances in honour of the visit,lavish dinners and talks about world peace.
Trump and Putin both went to Beijing with different goals. Both appear to have achieved some,if not all of them,but China is the one holding the cards at the moment.
Putin’s visit focused on energy ties (Picture: Getty)The ironic thing about Trump and Putin’s visits to Beijing being so close together is that they weren’t initially meant to be.Trump planned to visit China during the first week of April,but because of the war in Iran,the visit was postponed.The proximity of the state visits has led many to compare them and declare a winner. Both the US and Russia strengthened ties with China during the visit,but Xi is the one on top.Russia needs China. The country became Russia’s top trading partner after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.Putin is heavily reliant on Xi for energy and trade,especially as the war in Ukraine wages on. Ultimately,China benefits from this relationship. It has leverage with Putin,having supplied the country for almost four years now.Trump went to Beijing with different goals in mind. Rather than focusing on energy,the US and China are poised to form a ‘board of trade’ and ‘board of investment’ to help strengthen trade agreements.There were subtle digs about the United States when Putin was visiting,Russian expert Keir Giles,from Chatham House,told Metro.‘The international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and transformation,while unilateral hegemonic currents are running rampant,’ Xi said,criticising what China sees as American foreign policy overreach. Giles points out: ‘This can all be read as criticism of the United States,but of course,Russia and China are claiming those same rights of unobstructed aggression and expansionism for themselves with Taiwan and Ukraine. ‘It’s hypocritical. The idea of a multipolar world implies that the disgruntlement Russia and China are expressing toward the United States isn’t because they disapprove of U.S. actions,but because the United States can do it and they can’t.’
Trump’s goals were more focused on trade (Picture: AFP)The winner after both state visits appears to be China,however. Xi’s position hasn’t changed one bit,Giles added.‘China can wait out the conflict between Russia and the wider world,and it can pick up the pieces when it’s over,’ he said.‘For the time being,China can extract maximum value from the relationship by supplying Russia with the things it needs to prosecute its war — money,drone components,nitrocellulose,and so on. ‘Meanwhile,Russia grows weaker while China grows stronger. So the upper hand is definitely with Beijing,and China has the luxury of not needing to publicly demand anything from Russia that Moscow would find distinctly uncomfortable — at least not yet.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .For more stories like this,check our news page.
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