Xi Launches 4-Country Tour to Pitch China as Stable Partner Before Trump Meeting
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 6
Xi Launches 4-Country Tour to Pitch China as Stable Partner Before Trump Meeting
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 6
Summary
Four countries, three state visits and two summits make Xi Jinping’s September travel burst one of his busiest post-pandemic diplomatic stretches, ending with a late-month White House meeting with Donald Trump.
Xi is using stops in Kyrgyzstan, Egypt and India to cast China as a reliable partner for developing countries as Beijing argues U.S. policy has fueled wars, sanctions and trade disruptions.
In Bishkek, Xi used the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit to meet Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, underscoring China’s ties across rival power centers before Washington.
Cairo highlighted Beijing’s push into spaces once dominated by the United States: Xi arrived after China-Egypt fighter drills and just after U.S. sanctions hit a branch of a major Egyptian bank.
Xi will skip the U.N. General Assembly even while visiting Washington, signaling a preference for tightly managed forums where Beijing can better shape the agenda and showcase diplomatic leverage.