Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday touted his country\u2019s deep alignment with China as he appeared on stage as guest of honor at a global gathering in Beijing, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping pitched his vision for a reshaped world order. <\/p>\n
In a previously unannounced speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum, Putin hailed Xi\u2019s flagship foreign policy initiative as \u201caiming to form a fairer, multi-polar world.\u201d <\/p>\n
Russia and China share an \u201caspiration for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation,\u201d which includes \u201crespecting civilization diversity and the right of every state for their own development model\u201d \u2013 he added, in an apparent push back against calls for authoritarian leaders to promote human rights and political freedoms at home. <\/p>\n
Putin spoke after Xi, who welcomed two dozen world leaders and more than a hundred delegations to an event marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative \u2013 an ambitious yet controversial undertaking to boost connectivity and trade across the world with Chinese infrastructure projects. <\/p>\n
Addressing the foreign guests in an ornate room in Beijing\u2019s Great Hall of the People, Xi lauded his initiative for providing an alternative development model for the world, saying it \u201cestablished a new framework for international cooperation.\u201d <\/p>\n
The gathering took place under the shadow of a war in the Middle East that threatens to escalate into broader regional conflict \u2013 and served as a stark showing of the deepening divisions between world powers. <\/p>\n
As leaders and representatives from countries mostly in the Global South gathered in the Chinese capital, US President Joe Biden landed in Israel later on Wednesday in a show of staunch support for the American ally, which has vowed to eliminate Hamas following the Islamic militant group\u2019s brutal attack on Israel earlier this month. <\/p>\n
China and Russia have both called for ceasefire in the spiraling conflict and have declined to explicitly condemn Hamas \u2013 cutting a stark contrast to the outpouring of support for Israel from the US and leaders across Europe. <\/p>\n
At the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fully aware of the deep grievances of the Palestinian people after 56 years of occupation, yet as serious as these grievances are they cannot justify the acts of terror against civilians committed by Hamas on October 7 (which) I immediately condemned,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut those events cannot justify the collective punishment of The Palestinian people.\u201d <\/p>\n
Xi did not address the conflict in his speech, but he alluded to an apparent shift in global power and leadership. \u201cChanges of the world, of our times and of historical significance are unfolding like never before,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cChina is endeavoring to build itself into a stronger country and rejuvenate the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization. The modernization we\u2019re pursuing is not for China alone, but for all developing countries through joint efforts.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a thinly veiled swipe at the United States, the Chinese leader said China opposed unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and supply chain disruption. <\/p>\n
\u201cIdeological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not a choice for us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cViewing others\u2019 development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one\u2019s own life better or speed up one\u2019s development.\u201d <\/p>\n
Other world leaders in attendance, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Indonesia\u2019s Joko Widodo, also gave addresses, with many echoing Xi\u2019s call for increased global development and a more multilateral, cooperative world. <\/p>\n
Xi and Putin held talks after the event. Calling Putin \u201cmy old friend,\u201d Xi hailed the deepening of political trust between the two nations and their \u201cclose, effective strategic coordination,\u201d China\u2019s state broadcaster CCTV reported. <\/p>\n
The visit to Beijing is an exceptionally rare overseas trip for Putin, who is shunned by the West and wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
His meeting with Xi comes as Russia continues to wage destructive attacks on Ukraine, where two people were killed Wednesday after a Russian missile strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrainian officials. <\/p>\n
Xi, the most powerful and assertive Chinese leader in decades, has been ramping up efforts to project China as an alternative leader to the US \u2013 with a vision for how global security and development should be ensured. <\/p>\n
Hosting leaders in Beijing \u2013 China\u2019s first major international event since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic \u2013 is a key part of his push to pitch that vision to nations it has forged close ties with over the past decade as Xi aimed to vastly expand his nation\u2019s global influence. <\/p>\n
World leaders, representatives and delegations from more than 140 countries \u2013 including in the Middle East and the Taliban \u2013 are attending the gathering marking one decade since the launch of Xi\u2019s flagship Belt and Road Initiative. <\/p>\n
But it also comes as China faces stark challenges at home, with a slowing economy, high unemployment and a series of recent unexplained shake-ups in the upper echelons of the ruling Communist Party. <\/p>\n
Beijing aims to gloss over these challenges at the gathering to project its power and laud its contributions to global development as a prime example of its superior leadership. <\/p>\n
That signature foreign policy has marshaled hundreds of billions in Chinese finance to build ports, power stations, bridges, rails and roads around the world \u2013 significantly expanding China\u2019s international interests and influence along the way. <\/p>\n
More than 150 countries have cooperated on the program, which Beijing says has mobilized \u201cup to a trillion dollars in investments,\u201d spurring growth in developing nations. <\/p>\n
But it faces increasing headwinds as China\u2019s economic growth engine slows amid a shifting financial climate worldwide and questions about its high costs for countries \u2013 from debt to environmental impact. <\/p>\n
China\u2019s infrastructure building spree has now made it the world\u2019s largest debt collector, analysts say. <\/p>\n
In his address Wednesday, Xi brushed aside criticisms and reiterated his commitment to the initiative. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has been achieved in the past 10 years demonstrates that Belt and Road cooperation is on the right side of history. It represents the advancing of our times and it\u2019s the right path forward,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Xi also proposed an eight-part action plan on the Belt and Road initiative, including the full removal of restrictions on foreign investment in Chinese manufacturing and an initiative on global artificial intelligence governance. <\/p>\n\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday touted his country\u2019s deep alignment with China as he appeared on stage as guest of honor at a global gathering in Beijing, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping pitched his vision for a reshaped world order. In a previously unannounced speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}