Trump Leaves Beijing With a Fragile Compromise Between Rivalry and Cooperation

The official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China on May 19–20 was far more than another demonstration of Sino-Russian partnership. Talks between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed that Moscow and Beijing are steadily shaping their own model of global order — one designed as an alternative to the Western-led international system dominated by the United States and its allies.

Every time tensions rise around the Strait of Hormuz, global markets react almost instinctively: oil prices surge, governments grow anxious and investors rush toward safe-haven assets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday evening for his first foreign trip of the year — a visit intended to demonstrate the strategic depth of the partnership between Moscow and Beijing. Yet the atmosphere surrounding the trip also revealed how dramatically the international landscape around Russia has changed.

U.S. President Donald Trump Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi Jinping sought on the first day of the American leader’s state visit to China to demonstrate readiness to stabilize relations between the world’s two largest economies. However, the talks exposed deep disagreements over Taiwan, Iran, global trade, and the architecture of international security.