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The Middle East now stands at a critical juncture between war and peace. Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward Four Propositions on safeguarding and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, offering the Chinese approach for the region to move toward lasting stability and injecting much-needed certainty into a Middle East — and indeed a world —shaken by turmoil. First, stay committed to the principle of peaceful co-existence. The Gulf states in the Middle East are close neighbours that cannot move away. It’s important to support the Gulf states in improving their ties, work to build a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security architecture of the Middle East and the Gulf region, and consolidate the foundation for peaceful co-existence. Second, stay committed to the principle of national sovereignty. Sovereignty serves as a foundation for all countries, especially developing countries, to survive and thrive, and it must not be violated. The sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the Gulf states should be earnestly respected, and the safety of their personnel, facilities and institutions vigorously safeguarded. Third, stay committed to the principle of international rule of law. We should safeguard the authority of international rule of law, reject selective application, and prevent the world from returning to the law of the jungle. It is important to firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations underpinned by purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. Fourth, stay committed to a balanced approach to development and security. Security is a prerequisite for development, and development serves as a safeguard of security. All sides should work to create a sound environment for and bring positive energy to the development of the Gulf states. China stands ready to share with the Gulf countries the opportunities through Chinese modernization, and work with them to nurture a fertile ground for regional development and security. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a responsible major country, China has consistently acted to promote peace talks through concrete efforts. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met and made phone calls with his counterparts from relevant countries nearly 30 times. The Special Envoy of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue, Zhai Jun, conducted shuttle diplomacy across several countries to ease tensions in the region. China has also maintained close coordination with all parties through the United Nations and other platforms, with the objective of advancing a ceasefire, ending hostilities, and promoting dialogue and negotiation. China’s efforts, commitment, and sense of responsibility in pursuing peace have won broad recognition from regional parties and the wider international community. A ceasefire does not equal peace. The spillover risks of the war remain, the regional security architecture is badly fractured, with a serious loss of trust between all parties. Any accidental escalation could once again push the situation toward the abyss. As the Chinese saying goes, “When strength is pooled, nothing is unconquerable; when wisdom is combined, nothing is unattainable.” Peace in the Middle East must ultimately be safeguarded by the people in the Middle East. China stands ready to work with all peace-loving nations, guided by Chinese President Xi’s Four Propositions, to jointly advance a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security architecture for the Middle East, and to strive tirelessly for enduring peace and stability in the region. 

Taiwan's opposition leader, a proponent of closer ties with Beijing, said Wednesday she hoped to sow the "seeds of peace" during a rare visit to China.Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun is the party's first leader to visit China in a decade but her trip — during which she hopes to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping — has sparked debate in Taiwan.Critics, including those within her own party which traditionally supports relations with China, have accused her of being too pro-Beijing.China claims self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it."I hope that today we plant the seeds of peace not only for Chinese people on both sides of the Strait, but for all humankind," Cheng said on Wednesday, in comments broadcast by Taiwanese media.She spoke during a symbolic visit to the eastern city of Nanjing, where she visited the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, one of the few Chinese historical figures revered in both Beijing and Taipei.Beefed-up security at the mausoleum prevented foreigners from entering, AFP journalists saw.China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims to the island.Cross-strait relations have worsened since then, with China ramping up military pressure with near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near Taiwan and regular large-scale military drills.However, Cheng said in a speech after her arrival on Tuesday evening that "the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not doomed to war, as the international community has feared"."Taiwan should not be reduced to a geopolitical pawn," she said in a Facebook post, in an apparent reference to tensions between China and the US, Taiwan's main arms supplier.Her visit, she added, would mark a "historic journey of peace".In a park surrounding the mausoleum, 74-year-old Nanjing resident surnamed Fen told AFP on Wednesday that he had come to the area after hearing of Cheng's visit."I hope she will contribute to the reunification of the motherland," he said. 

Vietnam's top leader To Lam plans to visit China next week to meet with counterpart Xi Jinping, an official briefed on his travel plans told AFP Wednesday, his first foreign trip since becoming president as well as Communist Party chief.Lam was elected president — the number two position in Vietnamese politics — by the National Assembly on Tuesday, unifying leadership of the party and state as Xi did in China."Vietnam's General Secretary and President To Lam would visit China between April 15-17," the official told AFP, adding he will meet with Xi.Other media reports have said the trip will begin on April 14.Despite rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, the two socialist states have sought to deepen already close economic ties to guard against global trade upheaval instigated by US President Donald Trump's tariffs.Both Vietnam and China get much of their oil imports via the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has largely been halted due to the US-Israeli war with Iran.Xi on Tuesday congratulated the Vietnamese leader on becoming president and expressed his willingness "to work with To Lam... to continuously strengthen our respective socialist causes", Chinese state media reported. 

Taiwan's main opposition leader landed in China Tuesday for a rare visit aimed at building cross-strait "peace", as the Taipei government warned Beijing would seek to stop US arms sales to the democratic island.  Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, who is the party's first leader to visit China in a decade, has insisted on meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping before she visits the US — Taiwan's main security backer.  The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it. But Cheng, whose unexpected rise to the top of the KMT drew a congratulatory message from Xi in October, has been accused by critics, including inside the party, of being too pro-China.  The KMT leader landed at a Shanghai airport Tuesday, where she was presented with a bouquet of flowers before being driven away in a convoy, live video from Taiwanese media showed. Cheng then travelled to the eastern city of Nanjing, where Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said she thanked Xi and China for the warm reception.  She is expected to visit the memorial of Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen in the city today. Cheng will be in China for six days, also visiting Beijing where she hopes to meet Xi. Cheng told journalists before her trip that Taiwan "must do everything in our power to prevent war from breaking out". "To preserve peace is to preserve Taiwan," Cheng told a news conference at the KMT headquarters in Taipei. "Goodwill must be built up and mutual trust needs to be expanded, step by step, by both sides."  Ahead of the visit, Taiwan's top China policy body warned Beijing would attempt to "cut off Taiwan's military purchases from the US and co-operation with other countries", which the KMT dismissed. "This trip is entirely for cross-strait peace and stability, so it has nothing to do with arms procurement or other issues," Cheng said last week. Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over the government's plan to spend NT$1.25tn ($39bn) on defence, which has been stalled for months in the opposition-controlled parliament.  While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016. — US pressure — China severed high-level contact with Taiwan that year after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims to the island.  Cross-strait relations have worsened since then, with China ramping up military pressure with near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near Taiwan and regular large-scale military drills. Tsai's successor Lai Ching-te, who was elected in 2024 and whom Beijing brands a separatist, warned as Cheng arrived in Nanjing that China is the "biggest" threat to Taiwan's democracy.  Cheng's trip comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi. The US has been piling pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to back a proposal for defence purchases, including US weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack.  Cheng has railed against the government's proposal, insisting "Taiwan isn't an ATM" and instead backed a KMT plan to allocate NT$380bn for US weapons with the option for more acquisitions. But she faces deepening divisions inside her party over how to counter China's military threats, with more moderate senior figures in the KMT pushing for a much higher budget.  While the US has long been ambiguous about its willingness to defend Taiwan, Washington remains Taipei's biggest arms supplier, which angers Beijing. The US approved the sale of $11bn worth of arms to Taiwan in December. More deals are in the pipeline, but there have been doubts about whether they would proceed after Xi warned Trump against sending weapons to Taiwan. Cheng has insisted she supports Taiwan having a strong defence, but said the island does not have to choose between Beijing and Washington.  

China will buy up to 120 aircraft from European aviation giant Airbus, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said following talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing Wednesday.Merz's visit comes as Berlin and Beijing seek to build on their decades-old economic ties to weather global uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz and other erratic foreign policy moves.China, the world's number two economy, overtook the US last year to become Germany's biggest trade partner. At the same time, Berlin regards the Communist Party-run state as a systemic rival to the West.Following talks with top Chinese leaders, Merz told reporters that China had agreed to purchase "up to 120" Airbus aircraft, adding that it "demonstrates how worthwhile such trips can be".Other contracts were in the pipeline, Merz added.Earlier in the day, Merz and Xi stressed their commitment to developing closer strategic relations, with the German leader saying he saw the trip as a "great opportunity" to boost economic ties.Xi, in turn, told Merz he was willing to take their ties to "new levels".Merz said that in his meetings he also touched on the sensitive topic Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as part of its territory and which it has not ruled out the use of force to annex.Any "reunification" must be done peacefully, Merz said.He also discussed the Ukraine war with Xi, who according to state news agency Xinhua said diplomacy was "key to the issue"."Xi noted the necessity of ensuring the equal participation of all parties to lay a solid foundation for peace, (and) addressing the legitimate concerns of all sides to strengthen the will for peace," Xinhua added.Merz is the latest in a string of Western leaders courting Beijing recently, including Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Mark Carney, as they recoil from the mercurial policies of Trump, who is also expected to visit from March 31.Merz said he wished for regular consultations between his government and Beijing — interrupted by political developments in Berlin and the pandemic — to resume "very soon".Export-dependent Germany needs "economic relations all over the world", Merz said before leaving for Beijing with a large business delegation in tow.At a meeting with Premier Li Qiang in Beijing's opulent Great Hall of the People, Merz called for "fair" cooperation, and representatives from both sides signed agreements and memorandums — including on climate change and food security.In an apparent allusion to the US, Li noted that "unilateralism and protectionism have gained ground and even become prevalent in some countries and regions".Flexing its muscle at times of tension, Beijing has restricted exports of critical minerals used in products from microchips and wind turbines to electric-car batteries and weapons systems.Last year, Beijing temporarily halted the export of Nexperia chips to Europe following a dispute with the Dutch government.More broadly, European businesses complain that China, with its low domestic demand, is flooding Europe with goods made cheap through state subsidies and an undervalued currency.Germany's trade deficit with China hit a record 89bn euros ($105bn) last year.As Trump has unsettled allies and rivals alike, China has sought to present itself as a reliable partner and defender of the multilateral order.China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, told Merz at the Munich Security Conference this month that Beijing wanted Germany to be a "stabilising anchor for strategic relations" in the European Union.Merz is joined by business leaders including executives of auto giants Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes.Today, he is set to visit Beijing's Forbidden City, then a Mercedes plant where autonomous driving vehicles will be presented.The chancellor will then travel to AI hub Hangzhou to visit the robotics group Unitree and German turbine maker Siemens Energy.German businesses have given Merz a to-do list on his trip."We expect the chancellor to clearly address problems such as overcapacity, distortions of competition, and export controls on critical raw materials," said Wolfgang Niedermark of the Federation of German Industries.Merz should advocate for "structural reforms to strengthen domestic demand and fairer competitive conditions" in China, he said, warning that without change there will be "new trade conflicts with the EU". 

China agreed to buy more US-farmed soybeans in what President Donald Trump called a “very positive” call with President Xi Jinping Wednesday, even as Beijing warned ‌Washington about arms sales to Taiwan. In a goodwill gesture two months before Trump’s expected visit to Beijing, Xi ‌agreed to hike soybean purchases from ‍the US to 20mn tonnes in the current season, up from 12mn tonnes previously, Trump said. Soybean futures rallied sharply. Hours after Xi’s virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi and Trump discussed Taiwan and a wide range of trade and security issues that remain a source of tension between the world’s biggest economies. Both leaders ‍publicly affirmed their personal stake in strong relations after the call, their first since late November. “All very positive,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realise how important it is to keep it that way.” “I attach great importance to Sino-US relations,” Xi Jinping said, according to an official government account. “Both sides are signalling that they want to preserve stability in the US-China relationship,” said Bonnie Glaser, head of the Indo-Pacific programme at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, ‌a think-tank. Though Trump has tagged China as the reason for several hawkish policy steps from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela, he’s eased policy towards Beijing in the last several months in key areas from tariffs to advanced computer chips and drones. One key exception is on Taiwan policy. The US announced its largest-ever arms ‌sales deal with Taiwan in December, including $11.1bn in weapons that could ostensibly be used to defend itself against an attack by Beijing. Taipei expects more such sales. China views Taiwan as its own territory, a position Taipei rejects. Washington has formal diplomatic ties with Beijing, but maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and is the island’s most important arms supplier. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. “The United States must carefully handle arms sales to Taiwan,” Beijing said in an official summary of the meeting. The dismissal or investigation into several senior military leaders in China has stirred concern about the implications for Beijing’s foreign policy. But Trump downplayed the investigation into Central Military Commission vice-chairman Zhang Youxia, saying over the weekend that “as far as I’m concerned, there’s one boss in China”, and “that’s President Xi”. The last nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States is soon to expire, raising the risk of ​a new arms race in which China will ‌also play a key role with its own growing nuclear stockpile. Trump has said that he wants China to be part of arms control. The Kremlin said it was a ⁠topic between Xi and Putin. Economic ‍issues continue to be a flashpoint between the world’s biggest consumer and its biggest factory. Trump has made tariffs on imports a pillar of his strategy to revive domestic manufacturing jobs. US Vice-President J D Vance on Wednesday unveiled plans for a preferential trade bloc of allies for critical minerals, part of an effort to eliminate one key area of leverage that Beijing has over Washington given its control of key metals. But the two sides are working to find areas of accord heading into an expected April state ​visit by Trump to Beijing. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney Thursday hailed Canada's ‌improving ties with China as well as the leadership of President Xi Jinping, declaring ‌that their nations were charting a ‍new course in co-operation at a time of global division and disorder.The four-day visit to China was the first by a Canadian prime ⁠minister since 2017, following up on Carney's ⁠positive meeting with Xi in South Korea in October. The two are set to meet again Friday."We're ‍heartened by the leadership of President Xi Jinping and the speed with which our relationship has progressed," Carney told China's top legislator, Zhao Leji, in a meeting in Beijing."It sets the stage for these important discussions on a wide range of issues where we can be strategic partners from energy to agriculture, to people-to-people ties, multilateralism, to issues on security."Carney's optimism follows months of intense re-engagement by both countries aimed at recalibrating ties that had soured under the previous prime minister, Justin Trudeau.The efforts have ‌also been fuelled by a push to diversify export markets after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada last year and suggested the longtime US ally could become his country's 51st state."Our teams have worked hard, addressing ‍trade irritants and creating platforms for new ⁠opportunities," Carney told Premier Li ‌Qiang in a separate meeting. "I believe that together, we are bringing this relationship back toward where it should be."Periods of tension in the past decade have strained ties, most recently after Trudeau's government imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, following similar US curbs.Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly, who was ​part of Carney's delegation to China, said ‌talks about auto tariffs were still ongoing, when asked by reporters if Canada might reduce the EV tariffs by 50%. Negotiations will continue Friday, Joly ⁠said, when Carney will meet with Xi. 

South Korean ‌President Lee Jae Myung Monday said he wants to open a "new phase" for relations with China, after meeting with President Xi Jinping during Lee's first trip to Beijing since taking office in June."This ⁠summit will be an important opportunity to make ⁠2026 the first year of full-scale restoration of Korea-China relations," Lee said. "I believe that efforts to develop the strategic cooperation and partnership ‍between the two countries into an irreversible trend of the times will continue."It was Lee's second meeting with Xi in just two months, a sign of Beijing's keen interest in boosting economic collaboration and tourism with Seoul as China's relations with Northeast Asia's other big economy Japan have reached the lowest point in years in a dispute over policy towards Taiwan.In comments reported by China's official Xinhua news agency, Xi made an unusually direct reference to the shared Chinese and Korean experience of resisting Japan during World War II."More than 80 years ago, China and South Korea made tremendous ‌national sacrifices and won the victory against Japanese militarism," Xi told Lee.The two countries should "safeguard peace and stability in northeast Asia," Xi added.Hours before the visit, North Korea launched at least two ballistic missiles, its first such launches in two months. Leader Kim ‍Jong Un cited the need for Pyongyang ⁠to maintain a powerful nuclear deterrent.South ‌Korea and China "affirmed the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea and agreed to continue exploring creative ways to reduce tensions and build peace on the Korean Peninsula," Wi Sung-lac, Lee's security adviser, told a press briefing.Lee, elected in a snap election in June, has promised to strengthen ties with the US without antagonising China, while seeking to reduce tensions with the North.Beijing, for its part, has been seeking stronger ties with Seoul since a rupture with Japan, whose Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked Taiwan.Xi, citing an "increasingly chaotic and complicated international situation", said China and South Korea should make "correct strategic choices".The two countries "should look after each other's core interests and major concerns, and insist on properly resolving differences through dialogue and consultation," Xi told Lee.Seok Byoung-hoon, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said Xi's comments suggested China wants ​Seoul to side with Beijing rather than Washington over ‌cross-strait relations with Taiwan, and respect Beijing's position regarding the US seizure of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.The two countries signed 15 agreements at the ⁠summit, according to South Korean and Chinese broadcasters, including documents ‍on technology, intellectual property and transportation cooperation.Chinese and South Korean companies also signed nine cooperation agreements, South Korea's trade ministry said, naming Alibaba International, Lenovo and South Korean retailer Shinsegae.Lee arrived for his four-day state visit on Sunday, along with a delegation of more than 200 South Korean business leaders including Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Y Lee, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, and Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Euisun Chung.South Korea and China need to expand economic cooperation in artificial intelligence, Lee said, and could also collaborate in consumer ​goods such as household goods, beauty, food products and cultural content such as movies, music, games and sports.However, South Korean presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said in a radio interview Monday Beijing was unlikely to lift an unofficial ban on Korean culture any time soon. 

His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Wednesday a cable of congratulations to the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping on the occasion of his country's National Day.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Wednesday a cable of congratulations to the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping on the occasion of his country's National Day.

While Donald Trump is hard to beat when it comes to stealing the global spotlight, Xi Jinping proved this week he can also put on a good show.In memorable scenes reminiscent of a family reunion, the Chinese leader embraced and riffed with some of the world’s preeminent strongmen including an impromptu conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un about organ transplants and immortality.But the most surprising image may have been a chummy three-way gathering between Xi, Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made his first visit to China in seven years. Beyond the symbolism of seeing them laugh and hold hands, as well as Modi riding in Putin’s limo, they also hold the biggest potential for real economic shifts that could offer the world an ability to withstand threats from Trump to impose financial pain for defying the US.For the moment, the ties that bind them centre primarily around energy. One of the big outcomes this week was Russia saying it has reached an agreement with China on the Power of Siberia 2, a vast pipeline that Beijing had sought to delay for years, as it neither needs the fuel nor wants the energy dependence on its neighbour. While key details over pricing are still unclear, the decision to move forward now served as a sign of deeper co-operation. At the same time, India signalled it would keep buying oil from Putin’s regime, something Trump has already targeted with punitive tariffs.“This is a significant and serious inflection point,” said Matthew Bartlett, a former State Department appointee under President Trump during his first term. “It really reveals how energy security is critical to national security in the 21st century.”The newfound bonhomie in China this week also raises a question of the business, economic and strategic implications if the three nations were to move closer together in other areas, even if that remains a remote possibility at the moment. The China-Russia nexus alone serves as a powerful counterweight to the US, prompting Trump and others in his administration to warn earlier this year about the dangers of their budding alliance.Adding India to the mix would make that an even more formidable partnership. The three nuclear powers collectively hold a third of the world’s population, vast natural resources and world-beating manufacturing power. Today, they account for roughly a quarter of global gross domestic product, up from about 5% at the turn of the century, and China has made steady strides in coming closer to catching up to the most cutting-edge US technology.In a post on his Truth Social platform Friday, Trump wrote: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”While the obstacles to more fulsome economic integration among the three nations are vast, Trump’s use of tariffs to inflict economic damage opens the door to imagine the possibilities. Beyond energy, that could include efforts to build up alternatives to the dollar, expand investment opportunities and explore other ways to withstand US sanctions and tariffs. In China this week, Xi and Modi pledged to resume direct flights between the nations.“The classic maxim of foreign policy is unite your friends and divide your adversaries,” former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said on Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week with David Westin. “We have pursued policies that have managed to unite our adversaries and divide our friends.”“This should be an occasion for some real soul-searching on the part of America’s national security thinkers,” said Summers, a Harvard University professor and paid contributor to Bloomberg TV.The idea of a strategic Eurasian triangle consisting of Russia, India and China dates to the late 1990s, when Moscow sought to diversify its foreign policy away from an over-reliance on the US and Europe. The group struggled to take flight, but eventually spawned the creation of the Brics grouping that also included Brazil and South Africa. That bloc has since expanded to include nations like Indonesia and several from the Middle East, and is set to hold a virtual call next week to discuss Trump’s trade policy.Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, China has served as Russia’s most important economic partner, even as it has been careful to appear like it’s not overtly supporting his war effort. Xi’s government has also become bolder in testing US sanctions: Last week, it took a single cargo of liquefied natural gas from Arctic LNG 2, a US-sanctioned project dear to Putin’s heart and energy ambitions.Under the previous administration, the US was quick to slap retaliatory sanctions on any vessel or company that appeared to be circumventing restrictions on Russian LNG. It isn’t clear how Trump will react, and the White House hasn’t commented on the trade.“Rigorous enforcement of US sanctions, including against Novatek and Arctic LNG 2, has been key to maintaining pressure on the Kremlin to reverse course and accept a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine,” said Geoffrey Pyatt, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and former US assistant secretary of state who helped craft Arctic LNG 2 sanctions under the Biden administration.It’s still unclear if China’s pipeline deal with Moscow is more signal than substance. China and Russia haven’t agreed on a price yet a key sticking point before the project can move forward. Beijing will likely only greenlight the pipeline if Moscow accepts a price close to what domestic Russian consumers pay, according to a report from Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.What’s more, if all the capacity is used, China would be taking more than 40% of its imported gas from Russia a dramatic shift for a country that has long sought to keep a diverse stable of suppliers as part of its energy security drive.China’s progress in renewable energy is also closing the window for the Russians to get more gas into the Chinese market, according to Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.“The Russians, in order to get there, will really need to accept the conditions that make China happy,” he said. “And so far, I think it seems that the conditions look like straight robbery.”The roadblocks to closer cooperation with India are also high. Modi’s trip to China is more a rebalancing away from the US orbit than an embrace of Beijing, according to an Indian official familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. The trust deficit on both sides remains high after ties suffered following a 2020 border clash, and India is far away from easing restrictions on Chinese investment, the official said.While Modi attended the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tianjin, he stayed away from Xi’s military parade in Beijing several days later. The Indian leader also stopped in Japan, a key US ally, ahead of the China visit.“Modi was going to send some signals that he’s going to maintain India’s strategic autonomy, and to show that he has options, and won’t be pushed around,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, former assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Biden administration. “But India is going to be careful and cautious. And I remain cautiously optimistic that because of the fundamental common interests that the US and India hold, that there’s an opportunity to bring things back together there as well.”Trump’s administration has kept up a steady barrage of verbal attacks on India in recent weeks, with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro accusing New Delhi of funding Russia’s campaign in Ukraine and even calling it “Modi’s war”. New Delhi and Moscow have deep ties dating back to the Soviet era, and Russia is India's biggest supplier of weapons.The US president also accused Xi, Putin and Kim of conspiring against the US during their meeting in China. On Wednesday, he said that US relations with all of the leaders who were in Beijing was “very good,” while warning that “you’ll see things happen” if Putin doesn’t meet Trump’s deadline for holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Western officials familiar with the matter were impressed with Xi’s parade, calling it a military version of China’s 2008 Olympics that signals it will soon become a US peer. They also said the events in China made them believe that Xi viewed himself as the boss of both Putin and Kim, and will only cooperate with them on favourable terms to Beijing.A goal of the parade was to showcase China’s industrial prowess by featuring weaponry made with Chinese technology, according to Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University and former diplomat seen as close to the government in Beijing.The aim, he said, “is to tell the world ‘there is no need to fight a war with China anymore. You won’t win anyway.’” Beijing often seeks to instil stability in its capital markets around major national events. Ahead of the parade, Chinese stocks jumped about 10% in August, but that rally is starting to cool.At the SCO summit, Xi also sought to extend China’s influence among more than 20 leaders in attendance by taking veiled shots at the US and emphasising that all countries should be treated equally. While the body is often dismissed as a bureaucratic talk shop in the West, the expansion of membership in recent years and shift to create a development bank helps provide a more stable partner to leaders roiled by Trump.Many of the leaders who went to Beijing aren’t necessarily trying to side with China or Russia against the US, but rather to look for space to manoeuvre between the world’s big powers and preserve flexibility.“They were hoping I was watching,” Trump said. “And I was watching.”