Sidelining Trump, China's Xi rolls out carpet for Ukraine war aggressors

2/9/2025 12:18

In a show of solidarity with the aggressors in Europe's worst war in 80 years, China's Xi Jinping will convene with his Russian and North Korean counterparts for the first time as Donald Trump and other Western leaders watch on.



The gathering of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in Beijing this week is testament to the Chinese president's influence over authoritarian regimes intent on redefining the Western-led global order while Trump's threats, sanctions and tariff-driven diplomacy strain long-standing U.S. alliances, geopolitical analysts say.



The leaders' milestone meeting in the Chinese capital also raises the prospect of a new trilateral axis building on the mutual defence pact signed between Russia and North Korea in June 2024 and a similar alliance between Beijing and Pyongyang, an outcome that could change the military calculus in the Asia-Pacific region.



"We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practice true multilateralism," Xi said on Monday, in a thinly veiled swipe at his geopolitical rival on the other side of the Pacific.