Understand between the lines of the meeting between Xi and Putin

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The reports reporting Xi Jinping’s first international trip in two years were correct. This week, China’s leader left the country for a tour of Central Asia.

At the first stop, on Wednesday (14) evening (local time), Xi arrived in Kazakhstan. There, he was received by President Kassim-Jomart Tokayev at the presidential palace and received the Order of the Golden Eagle, one of Kazakh’s highest honors. He was accompanied by advisers, Chancellor Wang Yi, and the head of the National Development and Reform Commission, He Lifeng, considered a strong man of Chinese economic planning.

The next stop, however, was the one that drew the most attention. The Chinese leader left Astana for Samarkand, in southeastern Uzbekistan. Officially, the visit was motivated by the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but the most outstanding event so far is his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since the Winter Olympics, when Putin traveled to Beijing for the opening, it was their first face-to-face meeting. After the meeting, the Chinese side released a document quoting Xi as pledging “strong mutual support on issues concerning their respective core interests”.

• State news agency Xinhua also reported that Xi “said that China and Russia should expand pragmatic cooperation, safeguard the region’s security and interests, and preserve the common interests of developing countries and emerging market countries.”

• Also according to the agency, China is interested in deepening pragmatic cooperation with Russia in trade, agriculture and connectivity;

• Even with carefully calculated photos of Xi and Putin smiling and shaking hands, not everything seems to have been rosy. Putin praised China’s “balanced position” in the Ukraine war and considered Chinese “questions and concerns” about the conflict to be legitimate.

• It is possibly a sign that Beijing is not happy with the way the invasion is going and, despite Xi’s unrestricted collaboration promise to the Russian earlier this year, it is unlikely to help Moscow, at least for now.

why it matters: It is significant that Xi has chosen Central Asia for his first international visit since the beginning of the Covid crisis. The region is strategic for the Belt and Road Initiative, which had been forgotten by the media and academia in China, more concerned with fighting the pandemic.

The meeting with Putin, however, brought unexpected messages between the lines. After Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, many analysts speculated about the possibility of Chinese support for Russia in the Ukrainian War as a way of retaliating for interference on the island. The summit between the two leaders would be essential to seal the deal, which definitely did not happen this time.

what also matters

Chinese government officials are in talks with American pharmaceutical company Moderna to agree on the possible supply of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19. The information was passed on by the company’s CEO, Stephane Bancel, to the Reuters news agency.

The executive did not comment on whether the vaccine had already been sent to China for approval, but said it was “open” and “has the capacity” to meet Chinese demand in the event of a possible government order in Beijing.

If it happens, the deal will represent a major shift in the way China has been dealing with Covid-19. The country exclusively uses self-made vaccines based on inactivated virus technology, which is considered less effective in protecting against infection (especially against the omicron variant).

China has been resisting the adoption of foreign immunizers, fearing that the strategy will damage the credibility of Coronavac and the compound developed by Sinopharm.

The official Chinese press denied that the country’s Covid zero policy will become a permanent government guideline. The comment was a reaction to a UN post on the institution’s official profile on the WeChat messenger.

The post reported a meeting during the National Assembly scheduled for next week that will discuss the end of the Covid-19 pandemic state. WHO Director Tedros Adhanom is quoted in the post as saying that “we have never been in a better position to end the pandemic.”

Chinese netizens reacted to the news, many calling for an exit plan for the country’s zero Covid policy. The posts complain about the amount of tests to which the entire population is subjected and cite the difficulty for international travel. Some also mocked the statement by Tedros, previously harassed by the local press for criticizing China’s approach to fighting the virus.

Then began circulating a video attributed to an official at the National Health Commission, Chang Jile, saying that China would insist on mass testing even without outbreaks. The state-run China News Service tried to debunk the rumor, calling it “grossly inaccurate” and saying that this will not be a perpetual government directive, without further details.

Keep an eye

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has started a series of short YouTube videos targeting “the people of China”.

Speaking in English but with Chinese subtitles, Pompeo launched the venture by claiming that the “Communist Party does not represent the people” and was founded by “a group of brute radical extremists, something that has not changed much to this day.”

Pompeo also accuses the party of “hating the United States for fear that the Chinese people will be inspired by the example of American freedom, the oldest and most influential democracy in the world.”

why it matters: With the years of experience accumulated during Donald Trump’s administration, Mike Pompeo knows well that the video will hardly be able to circumvent Chinese censorship and reach the people there. This doesn’t seem to be the point either, as it hasn’t even been posted on networks accessible to ordinary Chinese like WeChat.

Thus, everything points to the construction of a persona pleasant to the Republicans, already preparing for the 2024 presidential race. Pompeo has his eye on the chair occupied by Joe Biden and, for that, it is worth radicalizing the speech against China, in the hope of to please an American electorate increasingly hostile to Chinese strategies and interests.

to go deep

• The Coordination of Asian Studies (Ceasia) at UFPE has opened registrations for the mini-course “Ocaso dos Qing: last century of Empire in China”. Classes take place through Google Meet and those who have at least 75% attendance can request a certificate. (free, in Portuguese)
• Ceasia is also holding a series of lectures on human and cultural exchanges between Brazil and China this Friday (16th). The event takes place at 9 am and 7 pm and will last an average of two hours. Subscriptions here. (free, in Portuguese)
• UFSC has opened a call for submission of papers for the 16th International Colloquium on Political Economy, which will take place in December. Until November 6, interested parties can submit articles on the world economic situation and the exchanges between East and West. (free, in Portuguese)