Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing on Tuesday (17) for the start of a visit that is expected to emphasize the two leaders’ shared vision for a new international order, which is no longer dominated by the United States and its democratic allies.
The meeting between the world’s two most powerful autocrats comes at a time when geopolitical divisions are worsening globally – first after Russia’s oppressive invasion of Ukraine, launched just three weeks after the leaders’ last meeting in the Chinese capital in 2022. – and now with Israel’s war against Palestinian militants.
The radical Islamic group Hamas threatens to escalate into a wider conflict that could destroy stability in the Middle East.
Both Beijing and Moscow have criticized Israel’s actions and called for a ceasefire, in the latest demonstration of the two powers’ efforts to step up alternative leadership to that of the US, which affirms Israel’s continued right to retaliate.
Putin’s visit to Beijing comes as US President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Israel on Wednesday (18).
Biden is expected to give a high-level show of support for Israel as it seeks to eliminate Hamas, while the US pushes for ways to alleviate humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and warns other countries in the region about greater involvement in the conflict.
Xi and Putin are expected to discuss the situation in Gaza during a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, ahead of the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing – an exceptionally rare overseas trip for the diplomatically isolated leader, who is treated in Beijing as guest of honor.
Heads of state, representatives and delegations from more than 140 countries are expected to participate in China’s flagship two-day diplomatic event starting this Tuesday, which marks ten years since the start of the global infrastructure financing campaign. Xi, and presents the Chinese leader with an opportunity to project Beijing’s growing global ambitions.
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Pressure for peace?
The forum organized in Beijing, at a time when Israel signals it may launch a ground invasion of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, presents Putin with an opportunity to divert global attention from the war in Ukraine, analysts say.
Russia presented a resolution to the United Nations (UN) Security Council calling for a ceasefire. The motion, which did not condemn Hamas, was supported by China but rejected by the US, UK, France and Japan on Monday.
Russia’s UN envoy compared, last Friday, the daily bombing of Gaza – controlled by Hamas – by Israel to the brutal siege of Leningrad during the Second World War.
At the other end of the historical spectrum, US President Joe Biden this weekend described the Hamas terrorist attack as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
China said it would send a diplomat to the Middle East to encourage talks and condemned “all acts that harm civilians”, but did not explicitly direct this condemnation at Hamas, nor did it name the group in its statements.
See photos of the conflict between Israel and Hamas
Source: CNN Brasil
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