Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) held back-to-back calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump this week, which analysts said was rare and significant as Beijing positions itself as a stable global power.
Xi’s video call with Putin on Wednesday afternoon was followed just hours later by a phone call with Trump.
Xi and Putin spoke for 1.5 hours, the Kremlin’s foreign policy aide said, while Trump said they had a “long and thorough” conversation.
Photo: Xinhua News Agency via AP
“It does demonstrate that Xi can hold court and easily pick up the phone to speak with the two ‘strong’ leaders of the world,” Nanyang Technological University associate professor Dylan Loh (駱明輝) said.
Russia and the US are two of the “most consequential” countries to China, Loh said, adding that the timing could have been “a simple scheduling issue.”
Trump said he and Xi discussed trade, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Iran.
China had committed to increasing soybean purchases from the US to 20 million tonnes in the current season, he added.
Loh said that the call confirmed that “in spite of what’s happened around the world, there is going to be a short-term tactical stabilization of US-China relations.”
However, Xi warned Washington to exercise caution in arms sales to Taiwan.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said, “we don’t worry too much about this whole telephone communication.”
“In fact, we believe that it will contribute to stabilize the situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Xi and Putin hailed the deepening of Chinese-Russian ties as they try to present a united front against the West.
The two discussed their “opinions” on the US, and “special attention was given to the tense situation in Iran,” the Kremlin said.
Xi is seeking to position himself as equidistant from Putin and Trump, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies assistant professor Benjamin Ho (何子恩) said.
“China is trying to seek international maneuver space to ensure that whatever happens globally, it does not get fenced into a corner,” he said.
Domestically, China is reeling from a corruption probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), a top military general in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which sent shockwaves through defense observers.
Analysts said that while Zhang’s investigation would likely not have been discussed with Putin and Trump, the timing of the calls could be a way for Xi to project confidence domestically.
Faced with uncertain and fragile domestic conditions, the “two-timing” calls were “probably for domestic posturing to demonstrate Xi’s political standing in the global theater,” Ho said.
OPTIMISTIC: The DGBAS sharply upgraded its GDP growth estimate from 3.54 percent to 7.71 percent after the Taiwan-US trade agreement signing and given AI optimism The US imported more from Taiwan than China for the first time in decades, as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs reshape trade flows while a global boom in artificial intelligence (AI) fuels demand for tech products. US purchases of goods from China plunged almost 44 percent in December last year from 2024 to US$21.1 billion, US Department of Commerce data showed on Thursday. By contrast, shipments from Taiwan more than doubled during the same period to US$24.7 billion. The soaring Taiwanese shipments to the US reflect the huge expansion in supplies of chips and servers for AI companies, which has completely changed
The Central Election Commission has amended election and recall regulations to require elected office candidates to provide proof that they have no Chinese citizenship, a Cabinet report said. The commission on Oct. 29 last year revised the Measures for the Permission of Family-based Residence, Long-term Residence and Settlement of People from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民在台灣地區依親居留長期居留或定居許可辦法), the Executive Yuan said in a report it submitted to the legislature for review. The revision requires Chinese citizens applying for permanent residency to submit notarial documents showing that they have lost their Chinese household record and have renounced — or have never
US and Chinese fighter jets briefly faced off above waters near the Korean Peninsula this week, Yonhap News agency reported, marking a rare confrontation in that area between the two superpowers. About 10 US fighter jets on Wednesday departed an airbase in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, for drills above international waters off South Korea’s western coast, the news outlet cited unidentified military sources as saying. While the US planes did not enter China’s air defense identification zone, Beijing scrambled planes as they neared that region, the report said. “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army organized naval and air forces to monitor and effectively respond
Taiwan has secured another breakthrough in fruit exports, with jujubes, dragon fruit and lychees approved for shipment to the EU, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency on Thursday received formal notification of the approval from the EU, the ministry said, adding that the decision was expected to expand Taiwanese fruit producers’ access to high-end European markets. Taiwan exported 126 tonnes of lychees last year, valued at US$1.48 million, with Japan accounting for 102 tonnes. Other export destinations included New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US and Australia, ministry data showed. Jujube exports totaled 103 tonnes, valued at
RSS