Vladimir Putin flies in to meet Xi Jinping, but there’s only one man calling the shots

May 20, 2026 — 4:30pm

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Beijing: Five days after the great optics bonanza that was the Trump-Xi summit, Vladimir Putin’s caravan has rolled into Beijing.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping greeted his “old friend” with a red carpet welcome ceremony at Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, replete with a military honour guard, a 21-gun salute and children waving the two countries’ flags.

The pageantry of Putin’s state visit mirrors the fanfare that welcomed Donald Trump last week.

Like Trump, Putin will also have tea with Xi at Zhongnanhai, the exclusive Communist Party headquarters.

For Xi, the swivel between hosting the two big power rivals – which flank China in global standings – is a coup of timing, and one that boosts Beijing’s narrative that it is the epicentre of world diplomacy.

“It demonstrates to the world, and to Trump as well, that China is a global player and has options. It has multiple relationships, and it has a very independent and self-centered foreign policy,” says Philipp Ivanov, a China-Russia specialist who runs advisory firm Geopolitical Risks and........

© Brisbane Times