“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.”
—John F. Kennedy
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Days after US President Donald Trump ended his visit to China with scores of American tycoons and billionaires in tow, it was Russia President Vladimir Putin’s turn to touch down at the Beijing International Airport on May 19.
Hosting two most important world leaders one after another within a week, China just proved to the world that it has taken on the role of a super-broker in the field of diplomacy.
Both Trump and Putin appeared as strong leaders trying to cozy up with China President Xi Jinping, obviously for reasons obtaining in their respective countries. In the case of the US President, he came to ease the economic hardships of American farmers, especially those who produce soybeans and wheat—and luckily he got a commitment from Xi that China would buy these products.
The fact that Donald Trump arrived with the US top businessmen aboard Air Force One also emphasized the obvious: that American business would want to make more inroads in the Chinese market, with its 1.405 billion people and the biggest middle-class population in the world. Elon Musk, for instance, wanted to scale up the production and distribution of Tesla cars while NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang wanted to smoothen up kinks in its commercial relations with China, particularly on AI and accelerated computing.
While Trump refuses to concede that the welcome that he received pales in comparison to Putin’s, the ceremonies and pageantry are but embellishment normal in diplomatic events. What was fleshed out in the talks is the more important thing.
President Putin’s 25th visit to Beijing was punctuated by cordial and warm talks, with Xi proclaiming that the China-Russia relationship has entered a new stage of greater achievements and faster development.
Putin called the Chinese leader his “dear friend” and greeted him with a Chinese saying: “One day apart feels like three autumns.” The two leaders held bilateral talks on regional and global concerns, attended a signing ceremony for cooperation documents, jointly met the press, and signed a joint statement on enhancing comprehensive strategic coordination and deepening good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation.
Chinese observers and officials from Russia who comprised Putin’s delegation have noted that relations between the two countries have seen a comprehensive development. They said that looking ahead to the next 30 years, the latest meeting between the two leaders has set the tone and direction for the future higher quality of bilateral ties.
While producing fruitful outcomes, the latest heads of state engagement also sends a clear message that it is important to advocate for multipolarity and safeguard world peace and stability, whereas unilateralism and hegemonism are not the way forward, said Chinese observers.
While holding talks with Putin at the Great Hall of the People, President Xi called for driving the development and revitalization of China and Russia through their comprehensive strategic coordination of even higher quality.
The Chinese leader noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between China and Russia.
China-Russia relations have come this far step by step precisely because the two countries have kept deepening political mutual trust and strategic coordination with unyielding tenacity, expanded cooperation with a drive to always scale new heights, and defended international justice and fairness and advanced the building of a community with a shared future for humanity with unflappable resolve, Xi said.
Meanwhile, Putin recalled warm memories of marking the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II with the Chinese leader in China last year and noted that the two countries signed the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation 25 years ago, calling it a major interstate instrument that provides a foundation for promoting cooperation in all areas which has remained relevant to this day.
“Today, our relations have reached an unprecedented level and are a model of a truly comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation,” Putin said.
The issue of the long-delayed gas pipeline project was of course discussed, and an aide to Putin told reporters that the two countries reached a “general understanding” about the pipeline.
The concrete gains were in the signing of 20 agreements on trade and technology, as well as a declaration on a “multi-polar world order.”
The latest meeting between the two leaders is not only a review of past achievements, but also a forward-looking effort to set the direction and priorities for the next stage of bilateral relations, noted Liu Jun, executive director of the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University.
The continuing dialogue by China with both the United States and Russia, at a time when several flashpoints of global conflict are still raging such as in West Asia and Ukraine, is a positive indication that good old diplomacy is still the best way of resolving differences.
Yes, humongous countries with huge populations and strong economies and military might can compete peacefully in trade, technology, scientific innovation, finance, and wealth generation for the sake of their own peoples, and it would be best for the world.
These countries need not lock their missiles and aircraft, drones, warships and aircraft carriers, and even their nuclear weapons, for there is a global future for humanity that should be shared by all.
This is the relevant rationale of the Trump and Putin back-to-back visits to Beijing, a message that President Xi Jinping and the Chinese leadership have been proclaiming for some time now.