For audiences in China, Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia this week was a show of strength and a testament to Beijing’s bid for global leadership.
On the second day of Xi’s trip to Moscow, Chinese media was awash with coverage of the visit as evidence of China’s mettle when it comes to standing up to Washington. Xi on Tuesday continued talks with senior Russian officials and invited his counterpart Vladimir Putin to visit China, even as the Russian leader comes under mounting criticism, including an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
“This visit will clearly tell the Americans that China is not to be intimidated. As a major power, it is our right and freedom to visit any country we want to visit,” wrote Feng Sheng, a researcher at a think tank affiliated with the Beijing-based consultancy Warming Hi-Tech, in an article popular on WeChat.
Under Xi, Beijing has deployed an increasingly assertive foreign policy focused on countering what it sees as U.S. efforts to contain China’s rise as a major power. Beijing’s friendship with Moscow is a key part of its strategy to establish an alternative world order that challenges U.S. leadership and looks to China for inspiration.
In an article published in Russian and Chinese state media on Monday, Xi wrote that “there is no country in the world that is superior to others,” adding that there is no governance model that is “universally applicable and there is no international order in which one country has the final say.”
The official news agency Xinhua, in a page dedicated to the visit with coverage in nine languages from Russian to Portuguese, hailed those remarks by Xi as an inspiration to the international community. An article that included praise from analysts in countries from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Pakistan to Iran and Russia described Xi’s concepts for peaceful international relations as possibly “the most powerful and pertinent idea in this century.”
On Tuesday, images of Xi heartily shaking hands with Putin took up the front page of most state-run newspapers as they hailed the “mature and tenacious” Sino-Russian relationship.
“During this important visit, we have four ‘no’s’ to the United States,” read the headline of an article rejecting U.S. criticism of Xi’s “no limits” partnership with Russia as well as China’s efforts to call for peace talks in Ukraine. The Guangming Daily wrote on Tuesday that Xi’s visit would bring more “understanding and support” for China’s “independent and peace-loving foreign policy.”
Ahead of the visit, Chinese media ramped up coverage of friendly China-Russia ties by counting the number of times Xi and Putin have met in person — at least 40 times — and even by hailing the health of two Chinese pandas loaned to the Moscow Zoo. (The two “live very healthy lives and each gained 44 lbs.!” over the past four years, the state-run BRTV reported Sunday.)
Coverage has also been carefully curated to leave little room for discussion or criticism of the visit. Posts only from state media and verified accounts appeared to be promoted on social media platforms, while the only visible discussions were hashtags such as “Russia and China connected by mountains and rivers” — a reference to China and Russia’s long border and Xi’s remarks upon arriving in Moscow on Monday.
Source: Washington Post