China is under intense diplomatic pressure to pull its support from isolated Russia. Three weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, Beijing has shown few signs of handling its friends in Kremlin, Now, US president is going to hold talks with this counterpart Xi Jinping.

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The war in Ukraine is far from over, but a consensus is forming in Chinese policy circles that one country stands to emerge victorious from the turmoil: China.

After a confused initial response to Russia’s invasion, China has laid the building blocks of a strategy to shield itself from the worst economic and diplomatic consequences it could face, and to benefit from geopolitical shifts once the smoke clears.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has avoided criticizing President Vladimir Putin of Russia, but he has also tried to distance China from the carnage. His government has denounced the international sanctions imposed on Russia but, so far at least, has hinted that Chinese companies may comply with them, to protect China’s economic interests in the West.

Xi reached out to European leaders last week with vague offers of assistance in negotiating a settlement, even as other Chinese officials amplified Russian disinformation campaigns meant to discredit the United States and NATO. Officials in Washington claimed, without providing evidence, that after the invasion Russia asked China for economic and military assistance, which a Chinese official denounced on Monday as disinformation.

In the end, China’s leadership has calculated that it must try to rise above what it considers a struggle between two tired powers and be seen as a pillar of stability in an increasingly turbulent world.

“This means that as long as we don’t commit terminal strategic blunders, China’s modernization will not be cut short, and on the contrary, China will have even greater ability and will to play a more important role in building a new international order,” Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, who has advised senior officials, wrote after the invasion in a widely circulated article.

At the heart of China’s strategy lies a conviction that the United States is weakened from reckless foreign adventures, including, from Beijing’s perspective, goading Putin into the Ukraine conflict.

In this view, which in recent days has been echoed in public statements and quasi-official analyses, Russia’s invasion has dragged American power and attention toward Europe, making it likely that President Joe Biden, like his recent predecessors, will try but fail to put more focus on China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

“All the difficulties and all the balancing and all the embarrassment that we’re talking about, those are short-term,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, who has studied Beijing’s actions in the lead-up to the war. “In the long run, Russia is going to be the pariah of the international community, and Russia will have no one to turn to but China.”

China’s path ahead is by no means certain. Drawing too close to Russia would risk entrenching animosity toward China in Europe and beyond, a possibility that worries Xi’s government, for all its bluster.

And if Germany, France and other allies build up their defenses as promised, the United States could ultimately be freed up to shift more of its military resources toward countering China. Biden has vowed to rally an “alliance of democracies,” while American military leaders say they will not let Ukraine distract them from China.

“We also feel very, very anxious because the Russia-Ukraine war will force Europe to lean to the U.S., and then China will be dragged deeper into a dilemma,” said Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University. The United States’ allies in the Pacific, including Japan and Australia, “will also adopt a stronger military posture. So it all seems unfriendly to China.”

China’s initial stumbles after Russia’s invasion have also raised concern about Xi’s ability to navigate the war’s aftershocks.

He has repeatedly warned Chinese officials that the world is entering an era of upheaval “the likes of which have not been seen for a century.” Yet those officials seemed ill-prepared for the upheaval of Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

Up to the day of the invasion, they scoffed at warnings that Russia was poised for war, instead accusing the United States of stoking tensions. Since then, they have struggled to reconcile sympathy for Putin’s security grievances with their often-stated reverence for the principle of national sovereignty, including Ukraine’s.

Xi, in a video conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Sholz of Germany, lamented “the rekindling of the flames of war” in Europe. Yet his diplomats have fanned the flames of Russian disinformation, accusing the United States of developing biological weapons in Ukraine.

“This is just not good for China’s international reputation,” said Bobo Lo, an expert on China-Russia ties at the French Institute of International Relations. “It’s not just China’s reputation in the West; I think it also affects China’s reputation in the non-West, because it’s essentially associating itself with an imperial power.”

China could also face economic disruptions from the war and the Western efforts to punish Russia by restricting trade and cutting off its financial institutions. Chinese officials have denounced such measures, and while the United States and its allies have shown remarkable unity in imposing them, other countries share Beijing’s reservations about using powerful economic tools as weapons.

In any case, China’s economy is large enough to absorb blows that would cripple others. Chinese companies may even end up well positioned to take advantage of Russia’s desperate need for trade, as happened when Moscow faced sanctions over the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

China’s strategy reflects a hardening of views toward the United States since Biden came to office in 2021 — in large part, because officials had hoped for some easing after the chaotic and confrontational policies of President Donald Trump.

“In its China strategy, the Biden administration’s policy continuities with the Trump administration are clearly bigger than any differences,” Yuan Peng, president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, wrote late last year. “Biden has repeatedly avowed that the United States is not in a ‘new Cold War’ with China, but China often feels the chill creeping in everywhere.”

Whatever happens in the war, China sees its deepening ties to Russia as a way to cultivate a counterweight to the United States. The partnership that Xi and Putin celebrated last month at the Winter Olympics in Beijing has become too important to sacrifice, whatever misgivings some officials have about the war.

Arguing that the era of American dominance after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 was a historical anomaly, both Xi and Putin have embraced geopolitical doctrines that call for their countries to reclaim their status as great powers.

Just as Putin depicts the United States as menacing Russia on its western frontier, Xi sees U.S. support for Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own, as a similar threat off China’s coast.

In recent weeks, Chinese analysts have repeatedly cited the century-old writings of a British geographer, Sir Halford John Mackinder. Whoever controls Central Europe controls the vast landmass stretching from Europe to Asia, he argued. Whoever controls Eurasia can dominate the world.

A modern Russian proponent of such thinking, Aleksandr G. Dugin, has written extensively on what he sees as a growing clash between the liberal, decadent West and a conservative Eurasian continent with Russia as its soul.

Dugin, sometimes called “Putin’s philosopher,” has built a following in China, appearing in state media and visiting Beijing in 2018 to deliver a series of lectures. His host on that occasion was Zhang Weiwei, a propagandist-academic who has won Xi’s favor and who last year gave a lecture to the Politburo, a council of 25 top party officials.

“The West should not have become a hegemon in defining universal standards because the West or Europe, or the West in general is only part of humanity,” Dugin told a Chinese state television interviewer in 2019. “And the other part, a majority of human beings, live outside the West, in Asia.”

Such aversion to international standards for political or human rights, supposedly dictated by the West, has become a recurrent theme in Chinese criticism of the United States. It was the subject of a government position paper in December, intended to counter virtual summit of democratic countries held by Biden, and of a long statement that Putin and Xi issued when they met in Beijing last month.

As it turns to Beijing for support against Western sanctions, Russia will become increasingly beholden to China as its diplomatic and economic lifeline, while serving as its strategic geopolitical ballast, analysts say.

“The old order is swiftly disintegrating, and strongman politics is again ascendant among the world’s great powers,” wrote Zheng of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. “Countries are brimming with ambition, like tigers eyeing their prey, keen to find every opportunity among the ruins of the old order.”

The war in Ukraine is far from over, but a consensus is forming in Chinese policy circles that one country stands to emerge victorious from the turmoil: China. After a confused initial response to Russia’s invasion, China has laid the building blocks of a strategy to shield itself from the worst economic and diplomatic consequences it could face, and to benefit from geopolitical shifts once the smoke clears.

The war in Ukraine is far from over, but a consensus is forming in Chinese policy circles that one country stands to emerge victorious from the turmoil: China. After a confused initial response to Russia’s invasion, China has laid the building blocks of a strategy to shield itself from the worst economic and diplomatic consequences it could face, and to benefit from geopolitical shifts once the smoke clears. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has avoided criticizing President Vladimir Putin of Russia, but he has also tried to distance China from the carnage. His government has denounced the international sanctions imposed on Russia but, so far at least, has hinted that Chinese companies may comply with them, to protect China’s economic interests in the West. Xi reached out to European leaders last week with vague offers of assistance in negotiating a settlement, even as other Chinese officials amplified Russian disinformation campaigns meant to discredit the United States and NATO. Officials in Washington claimed, without providing evidence, that after the invasion Russia asked China for economic and military assistance, which a Chinese official denounced on Monday as disinformation. In the end, China’s leadership has calculated that it must try to rise above what it considers a struggle between two tired powers and be seen as a pillar of stability in an increasingly turbulent world. “This means that as long as we don’t commit terminal strategic blunders, China’s modernization will not be cut short, and on the contrary, China will have even greater ability and will to play a more important role in building a new international order,” Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, who has advised senior officials, wrote after the invasion in a widely circulated article. At the heart of China’s strategy lies a conviction that the United States is weakened from reckless foreign adventures, including, from Beijing’s perspective, goading Putin into the Ukraine conflict. In this view, which in recent days has been echoed in public statements and quasi-official analyses, Russia’s invasion has dragged American power and attention toward Europe, making it likely that President Joe Biden, like his recent predecessors, will try but fail to put more focus on China and the broader Asia-Pacific region. “All the difficulties and all the balancing and all the embarrassment that we’re talking about, those are short-term,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, who has studied Beijing’s actions in the lead-up to the war. “In the long run, Russia is going to be the pariah of the international community, and Russia will have no one to turn to but China.” China’s path ahead is by no means certain. Drawing too close to Russia would risk entrenching animosity toward China in Europe and beyond, a possibility that worries Xi’s government, for all its bluster. And if Germany, France and other allies build up their defenses as promised, the United States could ultimately be freed up to shift more of its military resources toward countering China. Biden has vowed to rally an “alliance of democracies,” while American military leaders say they will not let Ukraine distract them from China. “We also feel very, very anxious because the Russia-Ukraine war will force Europe to lean to the U.S., and then China will be dragged deeper into a dilemma,” said Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University. The United States’ allies in the Pacific, including Japan and Australia, “will also adopt a stronger military posture. So it all seems unfriendly to China.” China’s initial stumbles after Russia’s invasion have also raised concern about Xi’s ability to navigate the war’s aftershocks. He has repeatedly warned Chinese officials that the world is entering an era of upheaval “the likes of which have not been seen for a century.” Yet those officials seemed ill-prepared for the upheaval of Putin’s assault on Ukraine. Up to the day of the invasion, they scoffed at warnings that Russia was poised for war, instead accusing the United States of stoking tensions. Since then, they have struggled to reconcile sympathy for Putin’s security grievances with their often-stated reverence for the principle of national sovereignty, including Ukraine’s. Xi, in a video conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Sholz of Germany, lamented “the rekindling of the flames of war” in Europe. Yet his diplomats have fanned the flames of Russian disinformation, accusing the United States of developing biological weapons in Ukraine. “This is just not good for China’s international reputation,” said Bobo Lo, an expert on China-Russia ties at the French Institute of International Relations. “It’s not just China’s reputation in the West; I think it also affects China’s reputation in the non-West, because it’s essentially associating itself with an imperial power.” China could also face economic disruptions from the war and the Western efforts to punish Russia by restricting trade and cutting off its financial institutions. Chinese officials have denounced such measures, and while the United States and its allies have shown remarkable unity in imposing them, other countries share Beijing’s reservations about using powerful economic tools as weapons. In any case, China’s economy is large enough to absorb blows that would cripple others. Chinese companies may even end up well positioned to take advantage of Russia’s desperate need for trade, as happened when Moscow faced sanctions over the annexation of Crimea in 2014. China’s strategy reflects a hardening of views toward the United States since Biden came to office in 2021 — in large part, because officials had hoped for some easing after the chaotic and confrontational policies of President Donald Trump. “In its China strategy, the Biden administration’s policy continuities with the Trump administration are clearly bigger than any differences,” Yuan Peng, president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, wrote late last year. “Biden has repeatedly avowed that the United States is not in a ‘new Cold War’ with China, but China often feels the chill creeping in everywhere.” Whatever happens in the war, China sees its deepening ties to Russia as a way to cultivate a counterweight to the United States. The partnership that Xi and Putin celebrated last month at the Winter Olympics in Beijing has become too important to sacrifice, whatever misgivings some officials have about the war. Arguing that the era of American dominance after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 was a historical anomaly, both Xi and Putin have embraced geopolitical doctrines that call for their countries to reclaim their status as great powers. Just as Putin depicts the United States as menacing Russia on its western frontier, Xi sees U.S. support for Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own, as a similar threat off China’s coast. In recent weeks, Chinese analysts have repeatedly cited the century-old writings of a British geographer, Sir Halford John Mackinder. Whoever controls Central Europe controls the vast landmass stretching from Europe to Asia, he argued. Whoever controls Eurasia can dominate the world. A modern Russian proponent of such thinking, Aleksandr G. Dugin, has written extensively on what he sees as a growing clash between the liberal, decadent West and a conservative Eurasian continent with Russia as its soul. Dugin, sometimes called “Putin’s philosopher,” has built a following in China, appearing in state media and visiting Beijing in 2018 to deliver a series of lectures. His host on that occasion was Zhang Weiwei, a propagandist-academic who has won Xi’s favor and who last year gave a lecture to the Politburo, a council of 25 top party officials. “The West should not have become a hegemon in defining universal standards because the West or Europe, or the West in general is only part of humanity,” Dugin told a Chinese state television interviewer in 2019. “And the other part, a majority of human beings, live outside the West, in Asia.” Such aversion to international standards for political or human rights, supposedly dictated by the West, has become a recurrent theme in Chinese criticism of the United States. It was the subject of a government position paper in December, intended to counter virtual summit of democratic countries held by Biden, and of a long statement that Putin and Xi issued when they met in Beijing last month. As it turns to Beijing for support against Western sanctions, Russia will become increasingly beholden to China as its diplomatic and economic lifeline, while serving as its strategic geopolitical ballast, analysts say. “The old order is swiftly disintegrating, and strongman politics is again ascendant among the world’s great powers,” wrote Zheng of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. “Countries are brimming with ambition, like tigers eyeing their prey, keen to find every opportunity among the ruins of the old order.”

China sees at least one winner emerging from Ukraine war: China

On a frigid day in Beijing last month as the Winter Olympics were set to open, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, celebrated a diplomatic triumph with a banquet for his honored guest, President Vladimir Putin of Russia. They had just finalized a statement declaring their vision of a new international order with Moscow and Beijing at its core, untethered from U.S. power.

Over dinner, according to China’s official readout, they discussed “major hot-spot issues of mutual concern.”

The details remain secret, but their talks were a crucial moment in the events that culminated 20 days later with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, unleashing Europe’s worst war in decades and seismic jolts in global power likely to be felt for decades.

Publicly, Xi and Putin had vowed that their countries’ friendship had “no limits.” The Chinese leader also declared that there would be “no wavering” in their partnership, and he added his weight to Putin’s accusations of Western betrayal in Europe.

Now it appears that Xi’s display of solidarity may have, possibly unwittingly, emboldened Putin to gamble on going to war to bring Ukraine to heel.

A retracing of Beijing’s trail of decisions shows how Xi’s deep investment in a personal bond with Putin has limited China’s options and forced it into policy contortions.

Before and shortly after the invasion, Beijing sounded sympathetic to Moscow’s security demands, mocking Western warnings of war and accusing the United States of goading Russia. Over the past two weeks, though, China has sought to edge slightly away from Russia. It has softened its tone, expressing grief over civilian casualties. It has cast itself as an impartial party, calling for peace talks and for the war to stop as soon as possible.

The quandaries for China, and Xi, remain.

“He’s damned if he did know, and damned if he didn’t,” Paul Haenle, a former director for China on the National Security Council, said of whether Xi had been aware of Russia’s plans to invade. “If he did know and he didn’t tell people, he’s complicit; if he wasn’t told by Putin, it’s an affront.”

A Western intelligence report concluded that Chinese officials told their Russian counterparts in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, though it was not clear whether Putin told Xi directly of any plans. Chinese officials rejected the claim that Beijing had forewarning as “pure fake news.”

In any case, the invasion evidently surprised many in Beijing’s establishment, leaving officials scrambling to respond and to evacuate Chinese nationals. Even if Xi knew anything about Putin’s plan, some experts said, he perhaps expected Moscow to limit its actions to the regions in Ukraine adjoining Russia.

“They did not anticipate a full-scale invasion,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, who has studied Beijing’s actions in the lead-up to the war. “You do not need to invade Ukraine to get what you want. So why bother?” she said, summarizing what she described as a broad view among Chinese officials.

The implications for China extend beyond Ukraine, and even Europe.

Xi’s warm embrace of Putin only a month ago advertised their ambitions to build what they call a fairer, more stable global order — one in which the United States is a lesser presence. Instead, their summit was followed by the kind of reckless, unilateral military intervention in an independent state that China has long denounced.

Xi’s statement with Putin on Feb. 4 endorsed a Russian security proposal that would exclude Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. By opposing the expansion of NATO, China waded into tensions over how far Russia’s eastern European neighbors could forge alliances with the West.

“Putin may have done this anyway, but also it was unquestionably an enabling backdrop that was provided by the joint statement, the visit and Xi’s association with all of these things,” said Andrew Small, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.

The blot on Xi’s image as a statesman has come as he seeks an untroubled march to a Communist Party congress this year, where he is likely to win a groundbreaking third term as party leader.

“He owns that relationship with Putin,” Haenle said. “If you’re suggesting in the Chinese system right now that it was not smart to get that close to Russia, you’re in effect criticizing the leader.”

Putin’s war has already dragged China to a place it did not aim to be. For decades it sought to build ties with Russia while also keeping Ukraine close.

In 1992, China was among the first countries to establish ties with a newly independent Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It turned to Ukraine as a major supplier of corn, sunflower and rapeseed oil, as well as arms technology.

Over the past years, as growing numbers of Ukrainians supported joining NATO, Chinese diplomats did not raise objections with Kyiv, said Sergiy Gerasymchuk, an analyst with Ukrainian Prism, a foreign policy research organization in Kyiv.

Ukraine was “trying to sit on the fence and avoid any sensitive issues with Beijing, and expected the same from China,” he said.

As opinion against China hardened in many countries, Xi became preoccupied with defending his nation against what he saw as threats to its rise, especially from the United States.

Relations were showing no signs of lasting improvement under the Biden administration, so Xi moved to bolster ties with Putin to blunt U.S. policies.

The two leaders shared similar world views. Both lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both saw Washington as a prime instigator of any political opposition to their rule. For both leaders, their partnership was an answer to President Joe Biden’s effort to forge an “alliance of democracies.”

At a video summit in December, Xi told Putin that “in its closeness and effectiveness, this relationship even exceeds an alliance,” a Kremlin aide told reporters in Moscow at the time.

Yet Xi remains a more cautious leader than Putin, and he appeared hopeful that China would not be forced to choose between Russia and Ukraine.

Only a month before his Olympic summit with Putin, the Chinese leader hailed 30 years of diplomatic ties with Ukraine. “I attach high importance to developing the Chinese-Ukrainian strategic partnership,” Xi said in a Jan. 4 message to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Even so, as Putin became determined to reverse Ukraine’s turn to Western security protections, Chinese officials began to echo Russian arguments. Beijing also saw a growing threat from U.S.-led military blocs.

In late January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to warn him about a war against Ukraine. Wang, however, urged Blinken to address Russia’s security grievances. Europe needed a new, “balanced” security organization, he said, making clear that NATO did not serve that role.

Beijing had its own complaints with NATO, rooted in the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, during NATO’s war in 1999 to protect a breakaway region, Kosovo. Those suspicions deepened when NATO in 2021 began to describe China as an emerging challenge to the alliance.

As Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s borders, Chinese officials kept repeating their defense of Russia’s security concerns.

They also scoffed at Western intelligence warnings about Russia’s imminent invasion. Washington, not Moscow, was the warmonger, they suggested, pointing to America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. On Feb. 23, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, accused Washington of “manufacturing panic.”

The next day, Russian forces struck.

While governments across the world condemned Putin, Beijing directed its criticism at the United States and its allies. It even avoided calling Putin’s actions an invasion.

In recent days, though, Beijing’s language has begun to shift, reflecting a desire to avoid standing too close to Putin.

Chinese officials tweaked their calls to heed Russia’s security, stressing that “any country’s legitimate security concerns should be respected.” They still did not use the word “invasion,” but have acknowledged a “conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”

China has also sought to position itself as a potential mediator, though so far only in vague terms. Wang, the Chinese foreign minister, told reporters on Monday that Beijing was willing to “play a constructive role” in bringing about peace talks.

China’s efforts to distance itself from Russia have come too late, said Gerasymchuk, the analyst in Kyiv. He said China would wait to see who prevailed in the war and seek to improve relations with the winner.

“Many decision makers in China began to perceive relations in black and white: either you are a Chinese ally or an American one,” said Gerasymchuk, who has been spending nights in a bomb shelter. “They still want to remain sort of neutral, but they bitterly failed.”

On a frigid day in Beijing last month as the Winter Olympics were set to open, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, celebrated a diplomatic triumph with a banquet for his honored guest, President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

On a frigid day in Beijing last month as the Winter Olympics were set to open, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, celebrated a diplomatic triumph with a banquet for his honored guest, President Vladimir Putin of Russia. They had just finalized a statement declaring their vision of a new international order with Moscow and Beijing at its core, untethered from U.S. power. Over dinner, according to China’s official readout, they discussed “major hot-spot issues of mutual concern.” The details remain secret, but their talks were a crucial moment in the events that culminated 20 days later with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, unleashing Europe’s worst war in decades and seismic jolts in global power likely to be felt for decades. Publicly, Xi and Putin had vowed that their countries’ friendship had “no limits.” The Chinese leader also declared that there would be “no wavering” in their partnership, and he added his weight to Putin’s accusations of Western betrayal in Europe. Now it appears that Xi’s display of solidarity may have, possibly unwittingly, emboldened Putin to gamble on going to war to bring Ukraine to heel. A retracing of Beijing’s trail of decisions shows how Xi’s deep investment in a personal bond with Putin has limited China’s options and forced it into policy contortions. Before and shortly after the invasion, Beijing sounded sympathetic to Moscow’s security demands, mocking Western warnings of war and accusing the United States of goading Russia. Over the past two weeks, though, China has sought to edge slightly away from Russia. It has softened its tone, expressing grief over civilian casualties. It has cast itself as an impartial party, calling for peace talks and for the war to stop as soon as possible. The quandaries for China, and Xi, remain. “He’s damned if he did know, and damned if he didn’t,” Paul Haenle, a former director for China on the National Security Council, said of whether Xi had been aware of Russia’s plans to invade. “If he did know and he didn’t tell people, he’s complicit; if he wasn’t told by Putin, it’s an affront.” A Western intelligence report concluded that Chinese officials told their Russian counterparts in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, though it was not clear whether Putin told Xi directly of any plans. Chinese officials rejected the claim that Beijing had forewarning as “pure fake news.” In any case, the invasion evidently surprised many in Beijing’s establishment, leaving officials scrambling to respond and to evacuate Chinese nationals. Even if Xi knew anything about Putin’s plan, some experts said, he perhaps expected Moscow to limit its actions to the regions in Ukraine adjoining Russia. “They did not anticipate a full-scale invasion,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center, who has studied Beijing’s actions in the lead-up to the war. “You do not need to invade Ukraine to get what you want. So why bother?” she said, summarizing what she described as a broad view among Chinese officials. The implications for China extend beyond Ukraine, and even Europe. Xi’s warm embrace of Putin only a month ago advertised their ambitions to build what they call a fairer, more stable global order — one in which the United States is a lesser presence. Instead, their summit was followed by the kind of reckless, unilateral military intervention in an independent state that China has long denounced. Xi’s statement with Putin on Feb. 4 endorsed a Russian security proposal that would exclude Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. By opposing the expansion of NATO, China waded into tensions over how far Russia’s eastern European neighbors could forge alliances with the West. “Putin may have done this anyway, but also it was unquestionably an enabling backdrop that was provided by the joint statement, the visit and Xi’s association with all of these things,” said Andrew Small, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. The blot on Xi’s image as a statesman has come as he seeks an untroubled march to a Communist Party congress this year, where he is likely to win a groundbreaking third term as party leader. “He owns that relationship with Putin,” Haenle said. “If you’re suggesting in the Chinese system right now that it was not smart to get that close to Russia, you’re in effect criticizing the leader.” Putin’s war has already dragged China to a place it did not aim to be. For decades it sought to build ties with Russia while also keeping Ukraine close. In 1992, China was among the first countries to establish ties with a newly independent Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It turned to Ukraine as a major supplier of corn, sunflower and rapeseed oil, as well as arms technology. Over the past years, as growing numbers of Ukrainians supported joining NATO, Chinese diplomats did not raise objections with Kyiv, said Sergiy Gerasymchuk, an analyst with Ukrainian Prism, a foreign policy research organization in Kyiv. Ukraine was “trying to sit on the fence and avoid any sensitive issues with Beijing, and expected the same from China,” he said. As opinion against China hardened in many countries, Xi became preoccupied with defending his nation against what he saw as threats to its rise, especially from the United States. Relations were showing no signs of lasting improvement under the Biden administration, so Xi moved to bolster ties with Putin to blunt U.S. policies. The two leaders shared similar world views. Both lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both saw Washington as a prime instigator of any political opposition to their rule. For both leaders, their partnership was an answer to President Joe Biden’s effort to forge an “alliance of democracies.” At a video summit in December, Xi told Putin that “in its closeness and effectiveness, this relationship even exceeds an alliance,” a Kremlin aide told reporters in Moscow at the time. Yet Xi remains a more cautious leader than Putin, and he appeared hopeful that China would not be forced to choose between Russia and Ukraine. Only a month before his Olympic summit with Putin, the Chinese leader hailed 30 years of diplomatic ties with Ukraine. “I attach high importance to developing the Chinese-Ukrainian strategic partnership,” Xi said in a Jan. 4 message to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Even so, as Putin became determined to reverse Ukraine’s turn to Western security protections, Chinese officials began to echo Russian arguments. Beijing also saw a growing threat from U.S.-led military blocs. In late January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to warn him about a war against Ukraine. Wang, however, urged Blinken to address Russia’s security grievances. Europe needed a new, “balanced” security organization, he said, making clear that NATO did not serve that role. Beijing had its own complaints with NATO, rooted in the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, during NATO’s war in 1999 to protect a breakaway region, Kosovo. Those suspicions deepened when NATO in 2021 began to describe China as an emerging challenge to the alliance. As Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s borders, Chinese officials kept repeating their defense of Russia’s security concerns. They also scoffed at Western intelligence warnings about Russia’s imminent invasion. Washington, not Moscow, was the warmonger, they suggested, pointing to America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. On Feb. 23, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, accused Washington of “manufacturing panic.” The next day, Russian forces struck. While governments across the world condemned Putin, Beijing directed its criticism at the United States and its allies. It even avoided calling Putin’s actions an invasion. In recent days, though, Beijing’s language has begun to shift, reflecting a desire to avoid standing too close to Putin. Chinese officials tweaked their calls to heed Russia’s security, stressing that “any country’s legitimate security concerns should be respected.” They still did not use the word “invasion,” but have acknowledged a “conflict between Ukraine and Russia.” China has also sought to position itself as a potential mediator, though so far only in vague terms. Wang, the Chinese foreign minister, told reporters on Monday that Beijing was willing to “play a constructive role” in bringing about peace talks. China’s efforts to distance itself from Russia have come too late, said Gerasymchuk, the analyst in Kyiv. He said China would wait to see who prevailed in the war and seek to improve relations with the winner. “Many decision makers in China began to perceive relations in black and white: either you are a Chinese ally or an American one,” said Gerasymchuk, who has been spending nights in a bomb shelter. “They still want to remain sort of neutral, but they bitterly failed.”

‘No wavering’: After turning to Putin, Xi faces hard wartime choices for China

Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Chinese Communist Party tabloid, Global Times, posted a video saying that a large number of Ukrainian soldiers had laid down their arms. Its source: the Russian state-controlled television network, RT.

Two days later, China’s state broadcaster Central Television Station (CCTV) flashed a breaking news alert, quoting Russia’s parliamentary speaker, that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine had fled Kyiv. CCTV then created a related hashtag on the Twitter-like platform Weibo that was viewed 510 million times and used by 163 media outlets in the country.

On Feb. 28, as Russia became an international pariah, the Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik shared a message of strength with its 11 million Weibo followers. The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Sputnik said, said Russia still had friends in the world, especially “a real giant” like China.

“Add oil, Russia,” Sputnik’s Weibo follower @fengyiqing cheered on, using a Chinese expression of support. “All the people in the world who love justice are friends of Russia.”

As European and American officials press Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other online platforms to clamp down on Russian disinformation, China has embraced Russia’s propaganda and lies about the war. China’s state-owned media outlets quoted their Russian counterparts’ coverage without verification, helping to magnify their disinformation on the Chinese internet. They put Russian officials on state television networks with little pushback on their claims.

When it comes to information, the Chinese government is a control freak, dictating and censoring what its 1.4 billion people consume. Beijing has silenced and jailed its critics and journalists. It has coerced and co-opted the biggest Chinese online platforms to enforce its censorship guidelines. It blocks nearly all major western news and information websites, including Google, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC.

Yet as the world faces one of its most serious geopolitical crises since the end of the Cold War, China let down its digital defenses and allowed the Kremlin’s propaganda machine to help shape public perception of the war. No wonder the Chinese internet is overwhelmingly pro-Russia, pro-war and pro-Putin.

If China wants to remain officially ambiguous about whether it supports Vladimir Putin’s war — refusing to call it an invasion and abstaining from a U.N. vote to condemn the invasion — its state-controlled media nonetheless makes very clear where China stands.

The China-Russia information alliance is forged over a shared worldview of two leaders, Xi Jinping and Putin, who, out of deep distrust of the United States, are determined to challenge the West’s dominance in the competition for public opinion.

In a 2013 speech, Xi urged the country’s propaganda workers to enhance the country’s “international discourse power” under the notion of “telling China’s story well.” During a visit to RT’s headquarters in the same year, Putin said the network was created to “break the Anglo-Saxon monopoly on the global information streams.”

In 2015, Xi and Putin decided the two countries should strengthen their cooperation in media. Since then, they have held a Sino-Russian media forum each year, aiming to “redefine the map of the international discourse.”

Last November, an RT executive said at the forum that major Chinese media outlets quoted RT.com on average 2,500 times a week in 2021.

Many Chinese media organizations admire RT and Sputnik, which they believe have broken the West’s information monopoly, or at least muddied the water. Many media experts have analyzed what China’s state-owned media could learn from their successes. One academic paper detailed RT’s coverage of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 to illustrate how the Russian network carefully planned its reporting strategy to increase its seeming credibility and accessibility so it could set its own agenda.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin’s media machines worked well in China. Combined with Beijing’s censorship of pro-Ukraine content, they wove a web of disinformation that proved difficult for most Chinese online users to escape.

The message they are trying to drive home: Russia’s military actions are anti-West, anti-NATO expansion and anti-Nazi — thus justified and popular.

In China’s state media, there is very little about the international condemnation of Russia; Ukraine’s success in the battle for public opinion, led by Zelenskyy; or anti-war protests in Russia.

The one-two punch is working, keeping the Chinese public from facts while sowing confusion.

On the Chinese social media platforms, many people adopted Putin’s and Russian media’s language, calling the Ukrainian side extremists and neo-Nazis.

They kept bringing up the Azov Battalion as if it represented all of Ukraine. The battalion, a unit of the Ukrainian national guard, is known for having neo-Nazi sympathizers but remains a fringe presence in the country and its military.

Zelenskyy himself is Jewish and won the presidential election in 2019 with 73% of the vote. His approval rate soared to over 90% recently for his wartime leadership.

The fog of disinformation thickens when Chinese state media portrays Russia’s war as an anti-fascism effort. After Russia’s defense minister announced this week that his country would host the first international anti-fascism conference in August, the CCTV posted a one-paragraph story, then created a Weibo hashtag. Within 24 hours, it had 650 million views and was used by 90 media outlets. Many commenters called Ukraine and the United States fascist countries.

Chinese media is also propagating Russian disinformation that Ukraine has been using civilians as human shields. In its prime-time news program on Feb. 26, CCTV quoted Putin as making that allegation. A few days later the nationalistic news site, guancha.com, ran a banner headline that said the Russian military was going only after military targets, while the Ukrainian military was using civilians as human shields.

Taken collectively, Chinese online users are seeing a quite different war from much of the world.

While videos circulated outside China purportedly showing Ukrainians’ kind treatment of Russian prisoners of war, the trending social media topic in China was that captured Russians had endured Nazi-like torture. Both CCTV and the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, created hashtags echoing the same, based on a briefing by the Russian defense ministry. They had combined views of more than 200 million.

Sputnik, with 11.6 million followers on Weibo, has been posting more than 100 items a day lately, populating its timeline with words like “criminal Zelenskyy,” “empire of lies,” “fake news” and “Nazi.”

“We must stand with Russia!” Weibo user @qingdaoxiaowangzi commented on one of Sputnik’s posts, using a popular line on the Chinese internet. “If Russia falls, NATO and the neo-Nazi United States will bully China!”

At the same time, Weibo and other platforms are censoring pro-Ukraine content. The Weibo account of actor Ke Lan, which has 2.9 million followers, was suspended after she retweeted a video and a photo about an anti-war protest in Russia. So was the account of a transgender celebrity, Jin Xing, with 13.6 million followers. “Respect all lives and resolutely oppose the war!!!” her last post said.

But as the war continues and China recalibrates its position, some Chinese online users have begun to scrutinize the Russian news media reports. Under a Sputnik Weibo post contending that the Ukrainian military murdered civilians, a user with the handle @jialalabadededashen wrote, “Is this another news item that was tailor made by the Russian news agency for China?”

In a social media discussion, some people called out Russia for waging an information war in China. “Russia’s external propaganda has infiltrated China out-and-out,” wrote a Weibo user called @juediqiangshou. “That’s why all the excuses to justify the invasion are popular here.”

Some people are also raising questions about whether the flood of pro-Russia information would be detrimental to the interests of China and its people.

Even Wang Xiaodong, a famous nationalist writer, suggested on Weibo that the Russia-Ukraine war was more complicated than it seemed. “The Chinese people should have access to comprehensive and diversified information,” he wrote Wednesday. 
&nbsp;

Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Chinese Communist Party tabloid, Global Times, posted a video saying that a large number of Ukrainian soldiers had laid down their arms.

Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Chinese Communist Party tabloid, Global Times, posted a video saying that a large number of Ukrainian soldiers had laid down their arms. Its source: the Russian state-controlled television network, RT. Two days later, China’s state broadcaster Central Television Station (CCTV) flashed a breaking news alert, quoting Russia’s parliamentary speaker, that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine had fled Kyiv. CCTV then created a related hashtag on the Twitter-like platform Weibo that was viewed 510 million times and used by 163 media outlets in the country. On Feb. 28, as Russia became an international pariah, the Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik shared a message of strength with its 11 million Weibo followers. The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Sputnik said, said Russia still had friends in the world, especially “a real giant” like China. “Add oil, Russia,” Sputnik’s Weibo follower @fengyiqing cheered on, using a Chinese expression of support. “All the people in the world who love justice are friends of Russia.” As European and American officials press Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and other online platforms to clamp down on Russian disinformation, China has embraced Russia’s propaganda and lies about the war. China’s state-owned media outlets quoted their Russian counterparts’ coverage without verification, helping to magnify their disinformation on the Chinese internet. They put Russian officials on state television networks with little pushback on their claims. When it comes to information, the Chinese government is a control freak, dictating and censoring what its 1.4 billion people consume. Beijing has silenced and jailed its critics and journalists. It has coerced and co-opted the biggest Chinese online platforms to enforce its censorship guidelines. It blocks nearly all major western news and information websites, including Google, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. Yet as the world faces one of its most serious geopolitical crises since the end of the Cold War, China let down its digital defenses and allowed the Kremlin’s propaganda machine to help shape public perception of the war. No wonder the Chinese internet is overwhelmingly pro-Russia, pro-war and pro-Putin. If China wants to remain officially ambiguous about whether it supports Vladimir Putin’s war — refusing to call it an invasion and abstaining from a U.N. vote to condemn the invasion — its state-controlled media nonetheless makes very clear where China stands. The China-Russia information alliance is forged over a shared worldview of two leaders, Xi Jinping and Putin, who, out of deep distrust of the United States, are determined to challenge the West’s dominance in the competition for public opinion. In a 2013 speech, Xi urged the country’s propaganda workers to enhance the country’s “international discourse power” under the notion of “telling China’s story well.” During a visit to RT’s headquarters in the same year, Putin said the network was created to “break the Anglo-Saxon monopoly on the global information streams.” In 2015, Xi and Putin decided the two countries should strengthen their cooperation in media. Since then, they have held a Sino-Russian media forum each year, aiming to “redefine the map of the international discourse.” Last November, an RT executive said at the forum that major Chinese media outlets quoted RT.com on average 2,500 times a week in 2021. Many Chinese media organizations admire RT and Sputnik, which they believe have broken the West’s information monopoly, or at least muddied the water. Many media experts have analyzed what China’s state-owned media could learn from their successes. One academic paper detailed RT’s coverage of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 to illustrate how the Russian network carefully planned its reporting strategy to increase its seeming credibility and accessibility so it could set its own agenda. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin’s media machines worked well in China. Combined with Beijing’s censorship of pro-Ukraine content, they wove a web of disinformation that proved difficult for most Chinese online users to escape. The message they are trying to drive home: Russia’s military actions are anti-West, anti-NATO expansion and anti-Nazi — thus justified and popular. In China’s state media, there is very little about the international condemnation of Russia; Ukraine’s success in the battle for public opinion, led by Zelenskyy; or anti-war protests in Russia. The one-two punch is working, keeping the Chinese public from facts while sowing confusion. On the Chinese social media platforms, many people adopted Putin’s and Russian media’s language, calling the Ukrainian side extremists and neo-Nazis. They kept bringing up the Azov Battalion as if it represented all of Ukraine. The battalion, a unit of the Ukrainian national guard, is known for having neo-Nazi sympathizers but remains a fringe presence in the country and its military. Zelenskyy himself is Jewish and won the presidential election in 2019 with 73% of the vote. His approval rate soared to over 90% recently for his wartime leadership. The fog of disinformation thickens when Chinese state media portrays Russia’s war as an anti-fascism effort. After Russia’s defense minister announced this week that his country would host the first international anti-fascism conference in August, the CCTV posted a one-paragraph story, then created a Weibo hashtag. Within 24 hours, it had 650 million views and was used by 90 media outlets. Many commenters called Ukraine and the United States fascist countries. Chinese media is also propagating Russian disinformation that Ukraine has been using civilians as human shields. In its prime-time news program on Feb. 26, CCTV quoted Putin as making that allegation. A few days later the nationalistic news site, guancha.com, ran a banner headline that said the Russian military was going only after military targets, while the Ukrainian military was using civilians as human shields. Taken collectively, Chinese online users are seeing a quite different war from much of the world. While videos circulated outside China purportedly showing Ukrainians’ kind treatment of Russian prisoners of war, the trending social media topic in China was that captured Russians had endured Nazi-like torture. Both CCTV and the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, created hashtags echoing the same, based on a briefing by the Russian defense ministry. They had combined views of more than 200 million. Sputnik, with 11.6 million followers on Weibo, has been posting more than 100 items a day lately, populating its timeline with words like “criminal Zelenskyy,” “empire of lies,” “fake news” and “Nazi.” “We must stand with Russia!” Weibo user @qingdaoxiaowangzi commented on one of Sputnik’s posts, using a popular line on the Chinese internet. “If Russia falls, NATO and the neo-Nazi United States will bully China!” At the same time, Weibo and other platforms are censoring pro-Ukraine content. The Weibo account of actor Ke Lan, which has 2.9 million followers, was suspended after she retweeted a video and a photo about an anti-war protest in Russia. So was the account of a transgender celebrity, Jin Xing, with 13.6 million followers. “Respect all lives and resolutely oppose the war!!!” her last post said. But as the war continues and China recalibrates its position, some Chinese online users have begun to scrutinize the Russian news media reports. Under a Sputnik Weibo post contending that the Ukrainian military murdered civilians, a user with the handle @jialalabadededashen wrote, “Is this another news item that was tailor made by the Russian news agency for China?” In a social media discussion, some people called out Russia for waging an information war in China. “Russia’s external propaganda has infiltrated China out-and-out,” wrote a Weibo user called @juediqiangshou. “That’s why all the excuses to justify the invasion are popular here.” Some people are also raising questions about whether the flood of pro-Russia information would be detrimental to the interests of China and its people. Even Wang Xiaodong, a famous nationalist writer, suggested on Weibo that the Russia-Ukraine war was more complicated than it seemed. “The Chinese people should have access to comprehensive and diversified information,” he wrote Wednesday.

How China embraces Russian propaganda and its version of the war

In early February, Chinese officials asked Russian officials to wait for the Winter Olympics to end before launching invasion of Ukraine, a New York Times report said citing Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a Western intelligence report.

The US-based newspaper said that the Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia's plans or intentions to invade Ukraine before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out military attack last week.

The request was made around the time when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympics during which he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, CNN reported said citing a US official associated with the intelligence report.

However, it is not clear from the report whether Putin addressed the matter with Xi directly.

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Reacting to the report, the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the claims “speculations without any basis”.

"The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China," said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the embassy.

The New York Times said the intelligence on the exchange between the Chinese and Russian officials was collected by a Western intelligence service and was considered credible by officials reviewing it.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/no-indian-student-taken-hostage-by-ukraine-forces-indian-govt-458366">'No Indian student taken hostage by Ukraine forces': Indian govt</a>

Putin and Xi met at the start of the Olympics on February 4 and declared an upgraded “no limits” partnership in which they pledged to collaborate more against the West.

(With inputs from agencies)

In early February, Chinese officials asked Russian officials to wait for the Winter Olympics to end before launching invasion of Ukraine, a New York Times report said citing Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a Western intelligence report.

In early February, Chinese officials asked Russian officials to wait for the Winter Olympics to end before launching invasion of Ukraine, a New York Times report said citing Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a Western intelligence report. The US-based newspaper said that the Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia's plans or intentions to invade Ukraine before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out military attack last week. The request was made around the time when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympics during which he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, CNN reported said citing a US official associated with the intelligence report. However, it is not clear from the report whether Putin addressed the matter with Xi directly. Also read | Florida man caught speeding, blames Putin and threat of nuclear war Reacting to the report, the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the claims “speculations without any basis”. "The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China," said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the embassy. The New York Times said the intelligence on the exchange between the Chinese and Russian officials was collected by a Western intelligence service and was considered credible by officials reviewing it. Also read | 'No Indian student taken hostage by Ukraine forces': Indian govt Putin and Xi met at the start of the Olympics on February 4 and declared an upgraded “no limits” partnership in which they pledged to collaborate more against the West. (With inputs from agencies)

China told Russia to delay Ukraine invasion until end of Winter Olympics: Report

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the ongoing war against Ukraine. Jinping had urged the Russian President to negotiate with Ukraine to defuse tensions.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Xi urges Putin to negotiate with Ukraine to defuse tensions

The miracle of modern China was built on global connections, a belief that sending young people, companies and future leaders to soak up the outside world was the route from impoverishment to power. Now, emboldened by its transformation, the country is shunning the influences and ideas that nourished its rise.

The country’s most dominant leader in decades, Xi Jinping, seems intent on redefining China’s relationship with the world, recasting the meeting of minds and cultures as a zero-sum clash.

Education officials are imposing restrictions on English education and requiring that scholars ask permission to attend even virtual international conferences. Regulators have punished Chinese companies for raising money overseas. Xi has exhorted artists to embrace “cultural confidence” by promoting traditional Chinese literature and art, and has warned against imitating Hollywood.

And the government, citing the coronavirus pandemic, is no longer freely issuing most passports, the physical symbol of an interconnected world. Borders are almost entirely shut.

“There’s no more integration and exchange between different cultures,” said Zhang Jincan, the owner of Dusk Dawn Club, a live-music venue in Beijing.

Before the pandemic, the club was a fixture of the city’s curious, plugged-in music scene. Locals crammed in to hear visiting Polish jazz quintets or Argentine percussionists. Expatriates could discover up-and-coming Chinese punk bands. Performances were often organized with foreign cultural organizations.

Now Zhang worries that the very essence of his club is disappearing. “You get a kind of aesthetic fatigue,” he said.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

There is little chance of returning to the isolationism of former Communist Chairman Mao Zedong's era, when the nation was sealed off from the world financially as well as culturally. The pandemic has made clear how much the global economy relies upon China and how much China has benefited. Xi said he has no intention of decoupling from other economies.

“Countries around the world should uphold true multilateralism,” he told the World Economic Forum last month. “We should remove barriers, not erect walls.”

But if the government values the economic benefits of globalization, the same does not seem true of less tangible ones: artistic, intellectual, interpersonal. Those ties — which made China not just a fixture of the world economy, but a member of the global community — are being scrutinized, restricted or rejected.

Anything seen as — or, increasingly, tarred as — foreign is vulnerable to attack by vitriolic online nationalists. Celebrities promoting vegetarianism have been accused of peddling Western lifestyles.

Even this month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, by definition one of the most globally minded events in the world, was conducted on China’s terms: without foreign spectators and in defiance of diplomatic boycotts by countries including the United States.

It was sports that once smoothed the way for diplomatic entreaties.

After the Communists took power in 1949, the first Americans to officially enter China, decades later, were nine table tennis players. The countries’ teams met in 1971 at the World Table Tennis Championship in Japan, and the Chinese government invited the Americans for a weeklong visit in which they toured the Great Wall, watched a dance troupe and played matches. A year after the “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” President Richard Nixon made his historic visit to China, the opening salvo for the two countries to reestablish diplomatic ties.

In the decades that followed, China’s deepening global connections signaled its expanding ambitions.

More than 6.5 million Chinese studied abroad between 1978 and 2019, with the number rising each year. Chinese tech companies listed on Wall Street, their innovations copied by Silicon Valley. Schoolteachers used songs by Western boy bands to teach English, seen as vital for economic opportunities.

The outside world was hungry to know more about China, too. Between 2002 and 2018, the number of international students in China grew nearly sixfold. The 2008 Beijing Olympics helped the country pitch itself as a global tourist destination.

Wariness lingered. Deng Xiaoping, the leader who spearheaded the economic opening, memorably warned that an open window brings both fresh air and flies. But in those heady early days, many believed that China was hurtling irreversibly toward openness.

Xi proved them wrong. Since he took over in 2012, the Chinese Communist Party has restricted foreign nongovernmental organizations, accusing some of conspiring against the country. It has banned overseas textbooks, emphasizing that only it can guide China to greatness. Increasing hostility from the United States also prodded Chinese leaders into a more defensive posture.

The coronavirus crystallized those tendencies. Bent on stamping out infections, China canceled virtually all international flights. State media fixated on the West’s death toll.

To limit imported cases, officials said they would not issue or renew passports, except for emergencies, work or study abroad. The number of passports issued in the first half of 2021 was 2% of the same period in 2019.

Sarah Duan, 16, applied for a passport in December after being admitted to a private high school in Seattle. Immigration officials in her home of Shanxi province told her that minors were not allowed to leave the country, she said.

Duan called the national immigration administration, which said no such policy existed.

Still, local officers rebuffed her, arguing that the pandemic overseas was too dangerous or pointing to China’s fraught relationship with the United States.

“I wanted to say, 'What do U.S.-China tensions have to do with me?'” said Duan, who finally secured a passport last month. Shanxi immigration officials did not return a faxed request for comment.

Despite his rhetorical commitments, Xi is narrowing the scope of economic engagement, calling for reduced reliance on exports and keeping Chinese companies closer to home. After Didi Chuxing went public in New York last year without regulators’ blessing, the Chinese government announced an investigation into the ride-hailing company. Within months, Didi delisted.

And though China wants foreign money, it is driving away the people who accompany it. The number of foreigners living in Beijing and Shanghai has dropped by nearly one-third in the past decade, according to European business groups.

Even after China opens its borders, some fear the deteriorating climate will keep foreigners from coming.

Before the pandemic, Sarah Keenlyside, who has lived in Beijing for 16 years, organized tours for Western executives visiting on business. First-timers sometimes came nervously, with concerns and misconceptions about government surveillance. But they left impressed by the high-speed trains and safe cities. Some returned for family vacations.

“It’s sort of a vicious cycle,” Keenlyside said. “If people don’t come, then they don’t get to see it for themselves.”

Stereotypes are likely to harden in the other direction as China imposes new curbs on outside influences.

Last summer, education officials barred online tutoring firms from hiring teachers based overseas, cutting off a popular source of English lessons and cultural exchange. In December, regulators ordered television credits to specify whether any actors or crew had foreign citizenship.

Those decisions were couched as part of broader moves to ease students’ workloads or tame China’s unruly celebrity culture. But officials at times have been more explicit about the insidious effects of foreign ideas. Xi has denounced blind worship of Western cultural products and demanded confidence in traditional culture, which he calls a “major issue related to the rise and fall of national fortunes.”

The art world has raced to comply in ways that concern Jiang Bing, a contemporary art curator.

Jiang helped organize this year’s Chengdu Biennale, which features hundreds of works from China and abroad. She said many artists still want to engage with their international counterparts. But she had seen others reaching for obvious symbols of Chinese heritage, such as Ming dynasty clothing, rather than searching for more nuanced or novel ways to express cultural pride.

“If there’s no corresponding process of thinking, questioning and criticism, that can’t be real cultural confidence,” she said.

Some say the emphasis on the homegrown is a natural result of China’s rising status. While American films once often sat atop the Chinese box office, domestic ones now dominate. Local fashion designers, long dismissed as second-rate, command higher prices.

Sun Lei, 24, moved to Britain last fall for a master’s degree, having long aspired to study and work abroad. But the country’s lax virus management gave him a deeper appreciation for China’s ability to carry out policies without the friction seen in Western democracies.

“The reality is that China’s development and entire economic situation are trending upward,” said Sun, who intends to return home after graduation. “That’s beneficial for my personal development.”

Still, he plans to use a virtual private network to access blocked overseas websites after moving back. China’s growing middle class, increasingly well traveled and fluent in global pop culture, is unlikely to accept a wholesale retreat from the outside world.

Even some unexpected voices have defended cultural engagement.

“Technology has guaranteed that cultural distance is impossible,” said Wang Xiaodong, a self-described nationalist blogger with more than 6 million social media followers. Wang avidly follows American television shows, including "Game of Thrones" and "Westworld."

But the government is tightening controls over VPNs. Those who criticize China’s increasing insularity are often censored or drowned out by nationalist voices. Wang has himself been attacked online for saying that China needs global engagement.

The virtual vitriol has real-world consequences. Last fall, officials in the northeastern city of Dalian shuttered a Japan-themed shopping complex within two weeks of opening, after online commenters denounced it as a form of cultural invasion.

In the long term, the hostility could imperil the very rise that nationalists are eager to promote.

As the pandemic forced academic exchanges to move online, Chinese universities ordered scholars attending virtual conferences organized abroad to submit the agendas for advance approval. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences requires foreign scholars giving online guest lectures to share their passport details.

Last year, a government adviser formally warned China’s legislature that the restrictions could harm foreign policy. “Excessive management will affect experts’ analysis of international issues and the quality of their advice,” wrote the adviser, Jia Qingguo, who is also a Peking University professor.

Reached by email, Jia agreed to an interview. But he said regulations required university approval first, which never came.

The miracle of modern China was built on global connections, a belief that sending young people, companies and future leaders to soak up the outside world was the route from impoverishment to power.

The miracle of modern China was built on global connections, a belief that sending young people, companies and future leaders to soak up the outside world was the route from impoverishment to power. Now, emboldened by its transformation, the country is shunning the influences and ideas that nourished its rise. The country’s most dominant leader in decades, Xi Jinping, seems intent on redefining China’s relationship with the world, recasting the meeting of minds and cultures as a zero-sum clash. Education officials are imposing restrictions on English education and requiring that scholars ask permission to attend even virtual international conferences. Regulators have punished Chinese companies for raising money overseas. Xi has exhorted artists to embrace “cultural confidence” by promoting traditional Chinese literature and art, and has warned against imitating Hollywood. And the government, citing the coronavirus pandemic, is no longer freely issuing most passports, the physical symbol of an interconnected world. Borders are almost entirely shut. “There’s no more integration and exchange between different cultures,” said Zhang Jincan, the owner of Dusk Dawn Club, a live-music venue in Beijing. Before the pandemic, the club was a fixture of the city’s curious, plugged-in music scene. Locals crammed in to hear visiting Polish jazz quintets or Argentine percussionists. Expatriates could discover up-and-coming Chinese punk bands. Performances were often organized with foreign cultural organizations. Now Zhang worries that the very essence of his club is disappearing. “You get a kind of aesthetic fatigue,” he said. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) There is little chance of returning to the isolationism of former Communist Chairman Mao Zedong's era, when the nation was sealed off from the world financially as well as culturally. The pandemic has made clear how much the global economy relies upon China and how much China has benefited. Xi said he has no intention of decoupling from other economies. “Countries around the world should uphold true multilateralism,” he told the World Economic Forum last month. “We should remove barriers, not erect walls.” But if the government values the economic benefits of globalization, the same does not seem true of less tangible ones: artistic, intellectual, interpersonal. Those ties — which made China not just a fixture of the world economy, but a member of the global community — are being scrutinized, restricted or rejected. Anything seen as — or, increasingly, tarred as — foreign is vulnerable to attack by vitriolic online nationalists. Celebrities promoting vegetarianism have been accused of peddling Western lifestyles. Even this month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, by definition one of the most globally minded events in the world, was conducted on China’s terms: without foreign spectators and in defiance of diplomatic boycotts by countries including the United States. It was sports that once smoothed the way for diplomatic entreaties. After the Communists took power in 1949, the first Americans to officially enter China, decades later, were nine table tennis players. The countries’ teams met in 1971 at the World Table Tennis Championship in Japan, and the Chinese government invited the Americans for a weeklong visit in which they toured the Great Wall, watched a dance troupe and played matches. A year after the “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” President Richard Nixon made his historic visit to China, the opening salvo for the two countries to reestablish diplomatic ties. In the decades that followed, China’s deepening global connections signaled its expanding ambitions. More than 6.5 million Chinese studied abroad between 1978 and 2019, with the number rising each year. Chinese tech companies listed on Wall Street, their innovations copied by Silicon Valley. Schoolteachers used songs by Western boy bands to teach English, seen as vital for economic opportunities. The outside world was hungry to know more about China, too. Between 2002 and 2018, the number of international students in China grew nearly sixfold. The 2008 Beijing Olympics helped the country pitch itself as a global tourist destination. Wariness lingered. Deng Xiaoping, the leader who spearheaded the economic opening, memorably warned that an open window brings both fresh air and flies. But in those heady early days, many believed that China was hurtling irreversibly toward openness. Xi proved them wrong. Since he took over in 2012, the Chinese Communist Party has restricted foreign nongovernmental organizations, accusing some of conspiring against the country. It has banned overseas textbooks, emphasizing that only it can guide China to greatness. Increasing hostility from the United States also prodded Chinese leaders into a more defensive posture. The coronavirus crystallized those tendencies. Bent on stamping out infections, China canceled virtually all international flights. State media fixated on the West’s death toll. To limit imported cases, officials said they would not issue or renew passports, except for emergencies, work or study abroad. The number of passports issued in the first half of 2021 was 2% of the same period in 2019. Sarah Duan, 16, applied for a passport in December after being admitted to a private high school in Seattle. Immigration officials in her home of Shanxi province told her that minors were not allowed to leave the country, she said. Duan called the national immigration administration, which said no such policy existed. Still, local officers rebuffed her, arguing that the pandemic overseas was too dangerous or pointing to China’s fraught relationship with the United States. “I wanted to say, 'What do U.S.-China tensions have to do with me?'” said Duan, who finally secured a passport last month. Shanxi immigration officials did not return a faxed request for comment. Despite his rhetorical commitments, Xi is narrowing the scope of economic engagement, calling for reduced reliance on exports and keeping Chinese companies closer to home. After Didi Chuxing went public in New York last year without regulators’ blessing, the Chinese government announced an investigation into the ride-hailing company. Within months, Didi delisted. And though China wants foreign money, it is driving away the people who accompany it. The number of foreigners living in Beijing and Shanghai has dropped by nearly one-third in the past decade, according to European business groups. Even after China opens its borders, some fear the deteriorating climate will keep foreigners from coming. Before the pandemic, Sarah Keenlyside, who has lived in Beijing for 16 years, organized tours for Western executives visiting on business. First-timers sometimes came nervously, with concerns and misconceptions about government surveillance. But they left impressed by the high-speed trains and safe cities. Some returned for family vacations. “It’s sort of a vicious cycle,” Keenlyside said. “If people don’t come, then they don’t get to see it for themselves.” Stereotypes are likely to harden in the other direction as China imposes new curbs on outside influences. Last summer, education officials barred online tutoring firms from hiring teachers based overseas, cutting off a popular source of English lessons and cultural exchange. In December, regulators ordered television credits to specify whether any actors or crew had foreign citizenship. Those decisions were couched as part of broader moves to ease students’ workloads or tame China’s unruly celebrity culture. But officials at times have been more explicit about the insidious effects of foreign ideas. Xi has denounced blind worship of Western cultural products and demanded confidence in traditional culture, which he calls a “major issue related to the rise and fall of national fortunes.” The art world has raced to comply in ways that concern Jiang Bing, a contemporary art curator. Jiang helped organize this year’s Chengdu Biennale, which features hundreds of works from China and abroad. She said many artists still want to engage with their international counterparts. But she had seen others reaching for obvious symbols of Chinese heritage, such as Ming dynasty clothing, rather than searching for more nuanced or novel ways to express cultural pride. “If there’s no corresponding process of thinking, questioning and criticism, that can’t be real cultural confidence,” she said. Some say the emphasis on the homegrown is a natural result of China’s rising status. While American films once often sat atop the Chinese box office, domestic ones now dominate. Local fashion designers, long dismissed as second-rate, command higher prices. Sun Lei, 24, moved to Britain last fall for a master’s degree, having long aspired to study and work abroad. But the country’s lax virus management gave him a deeper appreciation for China’s ability to carry out policies without the friction seen in Western democracies. “The reality is that China’s development and entire economic situation are trending upward,” said Sun, who intends to return home after graduation. “That’s beneficial for my personal development.” Still, he plans to use a virtual private network to access blocked overseas websites after moving back. China’s growing middle class, increasingly well traveled and fluent in global pop culture, is unlikely to accept a wholesale retreat from the outside world. Even some unexpected voices have defended cultural engagement. “Technology has guaranteed that cultural distance is impossible,” said Wang Xiaodong, a self-described nationalist blogger with more than 6 million social media followers. Wang avidly follows American television shows, including "Game of Thrones" and "Westworld." But the government is tightening controls over VPNs. Those who criticize China’s increasing insularity are often censored or drowned out by nationalist voices. Wang has himself been attacked online for saying that China needs global engagement. The virtual vitriol has real-world consequences. Last fall, officials in the northeastern city of Dalian shuttered a Japan-themed shopping complex within two weeks of opening, after online commenters denounced it as a form of cultural invasion. In the long term, the hostility could imperil the very rise that nationalists are eager to promote. As the pandemic forced academic exchanges to move online, Chinese universities ordered scholars attending virtual conferences organized abroad to submit the agendas for advance approval. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences requires foreign scholars giving online guest lectures to share their passport details. Last year, a government adviser formally warned China’s legislature that the restrictions could harm foreign policy. “Excessive management will affect experts’ analysis of international issues and the quality of their advice,” wrote the adviser, Jia Qingguo, who is also a Peking University professor. Reached by email, Jia agreed to an interview. But he said regulations required university approval first, which never came.

How China under Xi Jinping is turning away from the world

On the Day 2 of the Munich Security Conference, the West urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine. The world leaders converge as tensions spike.

Chinese Foreign Minister addresses Munich Security Conference

According to reports, Chinese authorities have ordered schools to appoint "political commissars" to ensure children are taught President Xi's ideology.

Reports claim children will be taught President Xi's definition of “rule of law” in middle&nbsp;and secondary school.&nbsp;Nurseries have also been asked to follow the programme however it is reportedly not been made mandatory.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/to-mute-criticism-china-ordered-amazon-to-block-reviews-on-xi-jinpings-book-438311">Also Read:&nbsp;To mute criticism, China ordered Amazon to block reviews on Xi Jinping’s book</a>

Last year China's ministry of education had released a document on Xi Jinping's "thoughts on socialism" with "Chinese characteristics" to be incorporated into the curriculum.&nbsp;

According to China's state-run Global Times, it was a "significant" step in helping teenagers to "strengthen confidence in the culture of socialism". The primary schools in the country were expected to "cultivate love for the country" including for the Communist Party&nbsp;and socialist ideology.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/xinjiang-papers-leak-reveals-connection-between-xi-jinpings-speeches-and-the-uyghur-crackdown-432970">Also Read:&nbsp;Leak reveals connection between Xi Jinping's speeches and the Uyghur crackdown</a>

The Chinese daily said the focus on students in the middle schools would be to form basic political judgments and opinions and there will be "more emphasis on the establishment of theoretical thinking" among students in college.

The education ministry had said that teaching Xi Jinping's thoughts was crucial for the "all-round moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic grounding" of students and to "arm students' minds with Xi Jinping's thought".

The programme was aimed at ensuring the teaching material adequately "grasps the essence of Xi Jinping's thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era" while formulating guidelines.&nbsp;

(With inputs from Agencies)

According to reports, Chinese authorities have ordered schools to appoint "political commissars" to ensure children are taught President Xi's ideology. Reports claim children will be taught President Xi's definition of “rule of law” in middle and secondary school.

According to reports, Chinese authorities have ordered schools to appoint "political commissars" to ensure children are taught President Xi's ideology. Reports claim children will be taught President Xi's definition of “rule of law” in middle and secondary school. Nurseries have also been asked to follow the programme however it is reportedly not been made mandatory. Also Read: To mute criticism, China ordered Amazon to block reviews on Xi Jinping’s book Last year China's ministry of education had released a document on Xi Jinping's "thoughts on socialism" with "Chinese characteristics" to be incorporated into the curriculum. According to China's state-run Global Times, it was a "significant" step in helping teenagers to "strengthen confidence in the culture of socialism". The primary schools in the country were expected to "cultivate love for the country" including for the Communist Party and socialist ideology. Also Read: Leak reveals connection between Xi Jinping's speeches and the Uyghur crackdown The Chinese daily said the focus on students in the middle schools would be to form basic political judgments and opinions and there will be "more emphasis on the establishment of theoretical thinking" among students in college. The education ministry had said that teaching Xi Jinping's thoughts was crucial for the "all-round moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic grounding" of students and to "arm students' minds with Xi Jinping's thought". The programme was aimed at ensuring the teaching material adequately "grasps the essence of Xi Jinping's thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era" while formulating guidelines. (With inputs from Agencies)

Now, Chinese students to be taught Xi Jinping's 'thoughts'

Vladimir Putin is counting on China to help Russia circumvent possible western sanctions. Will Beijing openly back a Russian invasion of Ukraine? What's in it for Xi Jinping? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: What will China do if Russia invades Ukraine?

The all-weather allies Imran Khan and Xi Jinping are under the same roof. The Pakistani Prime Minister reached Beijing for the winter Olympics on Thursday, he brought a massive team for his four-day trip.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, review bilateral cooperation

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. During the meeting, he expressed his expectation that the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet will be allowed to make a “credible” visit to China. The visit will also include a stop in the Xinjiang region.

As per the readout of their talks, the UN chief “expressed his expectation that the contacts between the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the High Commissioner to China, including Xinjiang.”&nbsp;

So far, China has denied Bachelet an independent visit to Xinjiang.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/host-nation-china-wins-its-first-gold-at-the-beijing-winter-olympics-2022-450882">Also read |&nbsp;Host nation China wins its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022</a>

China has been called out for violating human rights in its Xinjiang region. The country has been accused of unlawfully imprisoning up to 1.8 million Uyghurs, and several other Muslim minorities in mass detention camps in Xinjiang.&nbsp; 
China, however, has denied all of these accusations.

As per campaigners, at least one million, mostly Muslim minorities, have been imprisoned in re-education camps in Xinjiang.

A statement by the UN says that during the meeting with Xi, Guterres “expressed the wish for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the People’s Republic of China in all the pillars of the Organisation’s work – peace and security, sustainable development, including climate change and biodiversity, and human rights.”

(With inputs from agencies)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. During the meeting, he expressed his expectation that the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet will be allowed to make a “credible” visit to China.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. During the meeting, he expressed his expectation that the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet will be allowed to make a “credible” visit to China. The visit will also include a stop in the Xinjiang region. As per the readout of their talks, the UN chief “expressed his expectation that the contacts between the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the High Commissioner to China, including Xinjiang.” So far, China has denied Bachelet an independent visit to Xinjiang. Also read | Host nation China wins its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 China has been called out for violating human rights in its Xinjiang region. The country has been accused of unlawfully imprisoning up to 1.8 million Uyghurs, and several other Muslim minorities in mass detention camps in Xinjiang. China, however, has denied all of these accusations. As per campaigners, at least one million, mostly Muslim minorities, have been imprisoned in re-education camps in Xinjiang. A statement by the UN says that during the meeting with Xi, Guterres “expressed the wish for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the People’s Republic of China in all the pillars of the Organisation’s work – peace and security, sustainable development, including climate change and biodiversity, and human rights.” (With inputs from agencies)

UN chief Guterres meets Xi, says he expects China to allow 'credible' visit to Xinjiang

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of People in Beijing.

During the meeting, Jinping&nbsp;pledged closer cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor investment programme to build roads, power plants and other infrastructure.

“China upholds fairness and justice in international affairs. China is willing to strengthen the coordination and cooperation with Pakistan in multilateral venues such as the UN&nbsp;and promote justice and world and regional peace,” Xi said.

The meeting happened shortly after Pakistan's army said troops had put an end to four days of assaults by separatists in Balochistan province.

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China has invested significantly in the region where separatists have waged an insurgency for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.

During the meeting, Xi stressed that "the Chinese side firmly supports Pakistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and dignity, as well as in combating terrorism", according to state media.

He added that China is willing to work with Pakistan in "aligning development strategies". This was the first meeting of the two leaders since Khan’s visit to China in October 2019.&nbsp;

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The two leaders agreed to work closely on further deepening bilateral economic engagement and reaffirmed their commitment to further advance the multifaceted strategic cooperative ties and building the Pakistan-China Community of Shared Future in the New Era.
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakPMO/status/1489988095256801280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Beijing is using the start of the Winter Olympics to score diplomatic points amid simmering tensions with the United States.

Over 30 foreign leaders travelled to Beijing to attend Friday's opening ceremony. But the United States and other western countries have subjected the Winter Games to a diplomatic boycott amid rising geopolitical tensions and allegations of human rights abuses in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Also see |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/from-vladimir-putin-to-imran-khan-world-leaders-who-will-attend-beijing-olympics-2022-449841">From Vladimir Putin to Imran Khan: World leaders who will attend Beijing Olympics 2022</a>

Campaigners say at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims have been incarcerated in Xinjiang, a far-western region where China is accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced sterilisations of women and forced labour.

The Global Times, run by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, hit back at foreign media reports that the event had attracted only "authoritarian" leaders, accusing them in an editorial of using "outdated anti-China cliches".

Toasting his fellow leaders, Xi expressed "heartfelt thanks to all governments, peoples and international organisations who care about and support the Beijing Winter Olympics".

"China has made every effort to overcome the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, earnestly fulfilled its solemn commitments to the international community and ensured the Beijing Winter Olympics is being held as scheduled," Xi said in a speech published by Xinhua news agency.

(With inputs from agencies)

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. During the meeting, Jinping pledged closer cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor investment programme to build roads, power plants and other infrastructure.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. During the meeting, Jinping pledged closer cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor investment programme to build roads, power plants and other infrastructure. “China upholds fairness and justice in international affairs. China is willing to strengthen the coordination and cooperation with Pakistan in multilateral venues such as the UN and promote justice and world and regional peace,” Xi said. The meeting happened shortly after Pakistan's army said troops had put an end to four days of assaults by separatists in Balochistan province. China has invested significantly in the region where separatists have waged an insurgency for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty. During the meeting, Xi stressed that "the Chinese side firmly supports Pakistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty and dignity, as well as in combating terrorism", according to state media. He added that China is willing to work with Pakistan in "aligning development strategies". This was the first meeting of the two leaders since Khan’s visit to China in October 2019. The two leaders agreed to work closely on further deepening bilateral economic engagement and reaffirmed their commitment to further advance the multifaceted strategic cooperative ties and building the Pakistan-China Community of Shared Future in the New Era. — Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) February 5, 2022 × Beijing is using the start of the Winter Olympics to score diplomatic points amid simmering tensions with the United States. Over 30 foreign leaders travelled to Beijing to attend Friday's opening ceremony. But the United States and other western countries have subjected the Winter Games to a diplomatic boycott amid rising geopolitical tensions and allegations of human rights abuses in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang. Also see | From Vladimir Putin to Imran Khan: World leaders who will attend Beijing Olympics 2022 Campaigners say at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims have been incarcerated in Xinjiang, a far-western region where China is accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced sterilisations of women and forced labour. The Global Times, run by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, hit back at foreign media reports that the event had attracted only "authoritarian" leaders, accusing them in an editorial of using "outdated anti-China cliches". Toasting his fellow leaders, Xi expressed "heartfelt thanks to all governments, peoples and international organisations who care about and support the Beijing Winter Olympics". "China has made every effort to overcome the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, earnestly fulfilled its solemn commitments to the international community and ensured the Beijing Winter Olympics is being held as scheduled," Xi said in a speech published by Xinhua news agency. (With inputs from agencies)

Beijing Olympics 2022: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan meets Chinese President Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping met the leaders of several more countries on Saturday as Beijing used the start of the Winter Olympics to score diplomatic points amid simmering tensions with the United States.

Following a groundbreaking agreement with Russia on Friday over Taiwan and against NATO expansion, Xi held meetings with the leaders of Serbia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and hosted a banquet at Beijing`s Great Hall of the People.

Over 30 foreign leaders travelled to Beijing to attend Friday`s opening ceremony. But the United States and other Western countries have subjected the Winter Games to a diplomatic boycott amid rising geopolitical tensions and allegations of human rights abuses in China`s northwestern region of Xinjiang.

The Global Times, run by the ruling Communist Party`s People`s Daily, hit back at foreign media reports that the event had attracted only "authoritarian" leaders, accusing them in an editorial of using "outdated anti-China cliches". 
Saturday`s Lunar New Year-themed banquet was the first time the Chinese president has joined a gathering of state leaders since before the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019.

Toasting his fellow leaders, Xi expressed "heartfelt thanks to all governments, peoples and international organisations who care about and support the Beijing Winter Olympics".

"China has made every effort to overcome the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, earnestly fulfilled its solemn commitments to the international community and ensured the Beijing Winter Olympics is being held as scheduled," Xi said in a speech published by Xinhua news agency.

The People`s Daily described strengthened China-Russian relations - announced by Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin after they met on Friday - as "an important guarantee for maintaining an international strategic balance, world peace and stability". The Global Times called it the start of a new era "not defined by the United States".

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/host-nation-china-wins-its-first-gold-at-the-beijing-winter-olympics-2022-450882">Host nation China wins its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022</a>

Xi held individual meetings with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Serbia`s President Aleksandar Vucic and President Abdel Fatta Al-Sisi of Egypt on Saturday morning, Xinhua news agency reported, discussing Belt and Road-related infrastructure investments and cooperation in the fight against COVID-19.

He also told Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that the two sides should deepen cooperation on supplying natural gas to China.

Xi also met Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held meetings with Ecuador`s President Guillermo Lasso, Singapore`s President Halimah Yacob and the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society, described the joint statement issued by Xi and Putin as "highly significant".

It was "the first time since the Sino-Soviet split that China`s taken a definitive position on European security to support Russia on something as fundamental as NATO", Rudd wrote on Saturday.

The "no limits" agreement https for a strategic partnership included Russian support for China`s opposition to any form of independence for Taiwan, and China`s backing for Russian opposition to further expansion of NATO.

Russia has amassed 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it tries to pressure the country into ruling out future NATO membership for the country. Moscow has denied its plans to invade.

Taiwan`s Foreign Ministry called the timing of the agreement "contemptible" and added that the Chinese government was bringing shame to the spirit of the Games.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met the leaders of several more countries on Saturday as Beijing used the start of the Winter Olympics to score diplomatic points amid simmering tensions with the United States.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met the leaders of several more countries on Saturday as Beijing used the start of the Winter Olympics to score diplomatic points amid simmering tensions with the United States. Following a groundbreaking agreement with Russia on Friday over Taiwan and against NATO expansion, Xi held meetings with the leaders of Serbia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and hosted a banquet at Beijing`s Great Hall of the People. Over 30 foreign leaders travelled to Beijing to attend Friday`s opening ceremony. But the United States and other Western countries have subjected the Winter Games to a diplomatic boycott amid rising geopolitical tensions and allegations of human rights abuses in China`s northwestern region of Xinjiang. The Global Times, run by the ruling Communist Party`s People`s Daily, hit back at foreign media reports that the event had attracted only "authoritarian" leaders, accusing them in an editorial of using "outdated anti-China cliches". Saturday`s Lunar New Year-themed banquet was the first time the Chinese president has joined a gathering of state leaders since before the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019. Toasting his fellow leaders, Xi expressed "heartfelt thanks to all governments, peoples and international organisations who care about and support the Beijing Winter Olympics". "China has made every effort to overcome the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, earnestly fulfilled its solemn commitments to the international community and ensured the Beijing Winter Olympics is being held as scheduled," Xi said in a speech published by Xinhua news agency. The People`s Daily described strengthened China-Russian relations - announced by Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin after they met on Friday - as "an important guarantee for maintaining an international strategic balance, world peace and stability". The Global Times called it the start of a new era "not defined by the United States". Also Read: Host nation China wins its first gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 Xi held individual meetings with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Serbia`s President Aleksandar Vucic and President Abdel Fatta Al-Sisi of Egypt on Saturday morning, Xinhua news agency reported, discussing Belt and Road-related infrastructure investments and cooperation in the fight against COVID-19. He also told Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov that the two sides should deepen cooperation on supplying natural gas to China. Xi also met Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held meetings with Ecuador`s President Guillermo Lasso, Singapore`s President Halimah Yacob and the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia and president of the Asia Society, described the joint statement issued by Xi and Putin as "highly significant". It was "the first time since the Sino-Soviet split that China`s taken a definitive position on European security to support Russia on something as fundamental as NATO", Rudd wrote on Saturday. The "no limits" agreement https for a strategic partnership included Russian support for China`s opposition to any form of independence for Taiwan, and China`s backing for Russian opposition to further expansion of NATO. Russia has amassed 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it tries to pressure the country into ruling out future NATO membership for the country. Moscow has denied its plans to invade. Taiwan`s Foreign Ministry called the timing of the agreement "contemptible" and added that the Chinese government was bringing shame to the spirit of the Games.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets more heads of state in Winter Olympics diplomatic push

While China spent billions to showcase its power and Beijing's return to the global stage after the pandemic, the tensions in Ukraine have overshadowed the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Watch this report by Palki Sharma from Kyiv.

Ukraine crisis overshadows the Beijing Winter Olympics

For several months now since November, the leaders of the west, Russia, and indeed the United States have been engaged in an escalating war of words. The political shadow boxing has been over a possible Russian incursion into Ukraine, in the aftermath of Russia having amassed almost over a hundred thousand troops along the borders with eastern Ukraine.

West sends weapons to Ukraine as tensions escalate with Russia

President Vladimir Putin hailed the relationship between China and Russia as he met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Chinese President Xi Jinping amid Ukraine crisis

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin is in China attending the Beijing Winter Olympics. Will the crisis and war tensions overshadow the games completely? Watch the report.

Russian President Putin & Chinese President Xi Jinping project united front against the West

In pictures - Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 opening ceremony

China and Russia put up a united front as Ukraine war threat hangs over the 2022 Beijing Winter Games opening. Will Vladimir Putin burst Xi Jinping's Olympic dream? Palki Sharma brings you more perspective from Kyiv.

Ukraine war threat hangs over the Beijing winter games opening

Putin-Xi Meet in Beijing: Russian President hails close ties with China

Russian President Putin is currently meeting his Chinese counterpart president Xi Jinping. President Putin has arrived in Beijing as he will attend winter Olympics opening ceremony apart from this Russia and China will also discuss greater gas and financial cooperation.

Russian President Putin meets his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of Beijing winter Olympics

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Ukraine crisis overshadows the Beijing Winter Olympics

Russian President Putin & Chinese President Xi Jinping project united front against the West

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Ukraine war threat hangs over the Beijing winter games opening

Putin-Xi Meet in Beijing: Russian President hails close ties with China

Russian President Putin meets his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping ahead of Beijing winter Olympics