The summit of more than 20 leaders, mostly from Central Asia, followed by a military parade in Beijing showcasing China’s newest missiles and warplanes, is not just pageantry. It shows how Mr. Xi is trying to turn history, diplomacy and military might into tools for reshaping a global order that has been dominated by the United States…
Putin, who arrived to a red-carpet welcome in Tianjin on Sunday local time, praised the China-Russia partnership ahead of his trip as a “stabilizing force” for the world. In a written interview for Chinese state news agency Xinhua, he said they were “united in our vision of building a just, multipolar world order” – an allusion to the two countries’ efforts to revise what they see as a US-led world order unfairly stacked against them…
But the biggest coup is Mr Modi, whose relationship with Mr Xi has been badly strained since a Himalayan border clash, fought with sticks and bricks, killed 20 Indian soldiers in June 2020.
The fact that rapprochement is happening at all, given the once-close personal bond between Mr Trump and Mr Modi, is remarkable…