Name? Xi Jinping
Westphalian identity? Chinese
Age? 68
Why is he in the news? Despite the ongoing pandemic and a (largely Western) diplomatic boycott, the 2022 Winter Olympics began today in Beijing—making the city the first to host both the Summer and Winter games. If that weren’t a big enough triumph, Xi also just concluded a meeting with Putin in which the leaders took a united stand on Taiwan and NATO.
Why do we care? This was Xi’s first face-to-face meeting in almost two years, emphasizing the importance of Russia to the Chinese leader. Don’t believe us? Here’s some statements to come out of the summit: “Friendship between the two States has no limits;” It’s pretty safe to say Xi is strongly following the ideology of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
Why should you care? Living in Taiwan? Putin believes you’re part of China. Living in Ukraine? Xi believes you should be part of Russia? Living anywhere else? You can now stream your favorite Winter sports on NBC or your local news channel. In all seriousness, you should care 7/10 about two of the world’s most important geopolitical players growing closer.
Who else cares? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a congratulatory message to Xi on what he deems a “great victory won by socialist China.” Although there won’t be any North Koreans at the Winter games, the two countries (and therefore leaders) will be seeing more of one another as trade by train finally resumed between the two last month.
Any further comments? Aside from joint statements on the thorns in each others sides (aka NATO, AUKUS, Taiwan and Ukraine), Xi and Putin have also chosen to enhance their ‘growing energy partnership’ as Putin plans to supply China with 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year—a statistic many European countries may be concerned about as they wonder how gas supplies will be impacted with the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.
