China's Xi to meet Putin in first foreign trip since pandemic

[libertybele]

China's Xi to meet Putin in first foreign trip since pandemic

China's leader Xi Jinping is set to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin on his first trip overseas since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.

The two will meet on the sidelines of a major regional summit in Uzbekistan.

It comes at a crucial moment for both countries - Mr Xi is seeking a historic third term while Mr Putin's relations with the West are at rock bottom over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Neither Beijing nor Moscow have offered further details on the talks.

Mr Xi will begin his three-day trip in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. He will then meet Mr Putin on Thursday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Samarkand, which will run from 15-16 September. Central Asian countries - Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan - and fellow members Iran, India and Pakistan are also due to attend.

Mr Xi's visit comes amid a fresh set of lockdowns in China, where his zero Covid policy is still in place. While the rest of the world has opened up, learning to live with with the virus, Beijing continues to shut down entire towns and cities every time there is a spurt in cases.

Mr Xi last left China in January 2020 to visit Myanmar - just days before the first lockdown came into effect in Wuhan. He has remained in China since then, leaving the mainland only once in July this year to visit Hong Kong. ..............

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-62885151

[240B]

Xi is there to measure the curtains. The weaker Russia becomes, the more China prepares. Instead of Taiwan, China may do an end-run to the north.

[sneakypete]

Assuming,of course,that Pooty-Poot is still the Russian Maximum Leader,and not under House Arrest for corruption.

[Kamaji]

President Xi SNUBS dinner with Putin 'as a Covid precaution' after Vladimir acknowledges 'China's concerns' about his war in Ukraine in rare sign of friction

By DAVID AVERRE FOR MAILONLINE
16 September 2022

Chinese leader Xi Jinping refused to attend dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin and 11 others heads of states at a regional security summit yesterday.

Xi, who is making his first foreign trip since the beginning of the pandemic, is attending a meeting this week of the China- and Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.

However, he was absent from group photographs published late on Thursday when the leaders, including Putin and Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, went for dinner.

An Uzbek government source later confirmed Xi's absence and said the Chinese delegation cited its Covid-19 policy as the reason.

The snub comes just hours after Putin and Xi met to hail their strategic ties in defiance of the West amid Russia's widely condemned war in Ukraine and China's claim on self-governed Taiwan.

While Russia has fully backed China's claim to Taiwan, Xi has expressed hesitancy over Putin's military exploits across the border, something which Putin acknowledged during talks yesterday.

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Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11218985/President-Xi-SNUBS-dinner-Putin-Covid-precaution.html

[sneakypete]

The Chinaman don't want to be seen with someone that caused a Communist dictatorship to fall because that is the sort of thing that can easily "catch-on" if you are not careful.

As for Pooty-Poot,he had better be VERY careful about taking trips out of Russia because the day when he is not allowed back without having to face an arrest warrant is probably not far down the road.

HEY! Maybe he can seek political refuge in Ukraine once he is dumped? They even speak Russian there,so he would feel right at home!