Xi has held at least five high-profile tête-à-têtes, despite the lack of any formal gathering in China’s capital this week. Excluding weeks the country hosted major summits, it’s the quickest tempo since July 2024.
(Bloomberg) -- President Xi Jinping is wrapping up what’s been an unusually busy week of diplomacy in Beijing, showcasing the fervent interest of world leaders to develop ties with China while the US is embroiled in a conflict with Iran.
. . .The roster has ranged from a US NATO ally — Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — to a Middle East representative — Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed. The meetings were followed by a visit from the leader of neighboring Vietnam — To Lam, the nation’s president and Communist Party chief, who recently secured a fresh five-year term.
Xi has been positioning his nation as a source of stability and bulwark of respect for international rules, against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” Left unclear: Whether China’s leaders, who have long promised benefits from deeper ties to the world’s No. 2 economy, will offer concrete help for countries facing the current energy crisis.
- “World leaders are heading to Beijing because they increasingly see China as a hedge against an unpredictable United States,” said Neil Thomas, fellow on Chinese Politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.
- “Many want Beijing to play a larger role as a defender of stability, diplomacy, and an open global economy.”
Trump, by contrast, has spent the week deepening his isolation on the global stage, by openly lambasting one-time close allies including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and the UK’s Keir Starmer. He also launched a broadside against Pope Leo XIV, calling the popular and highly visible spiritual leader “terrible for foreign policy.”
Italy’s foreign minister this week visited Beijing, where officials pledged to deepen ties with Rome.
- Global leaders have sought to coordinate without the US present.
- Starmer is traveling to Paris to host a video conference on Friday alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, bringing together a coalition of roughly 40 countries working to help restore free transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
- South Korea, Japan and Australia have been part of that effort previously, which focuses on supporting a ceasefire."
