Evan Feigenbaum on Why Xi’s Russia Visit is Critical for China’s Global South Agenda

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2023. Sergei KARPUKHIN / SPUTNIK / AFP

Speculating about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s motives for meeting with Vladimir Putin and whether he’s serious about brokering a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine or just trolling the West has become something of a parlor game among China Watchers.

But while most commentators in the U.S. and Europe are focusing on the potential impact that Xi could have on Putin vis-à-vis the war in Ukraine, Evan Feigenbaum, vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and one of Washington’s most highly regarded Asia analysts, wrote a column on Monday that encouraged observers to take a broader view of Xi’s agenda in Moscow this week:

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by Eric Olander

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