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After a long absence from major international gatherings, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will leave his country’s Covid-19 bubble and venture abroad next week into a world of dramatic change marked by heightened confrontation.
Mr. Xi will attend the G20 meeting of industrial and emerging market countries in Indonesia, followed by the APEC summit in Thailand.
He will meet individually with other leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, on Monday for their first in-person meeting since Biden took office in January 2021.
Since 2020, Chinese leaders have mainly relied on video speeches to deliver Chinese information in forums such as the United Nations.
During this period, China’s relations with the West have deteriorated sharply due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the crackdown on civil rights in Hong Kong, military threats to Taiwan and Beijing’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The United States and Europe are more critical of China, with Germany blocking investment in its companies and Chinese leaders showing determination to go their own way.
Bruce Dickson, an expert on Chinese politics at George Washington University, described “the growing fear, apprehension and anxiety that China does not want to partner with other countries. It wants to advance its own agenda, regardless of its opponents.”
More moderate voices in Beijing and Washington advocating better relations were pushed aside.
“It’s really who can come up with the toughest policies to resist China’s efforts,” Mr Dixon said.
After a state visit to neighboring Myanmar in January 2020, Xi Jinping stayed in mainland China for more than two years.
He made a brief visit to Hong Kong on July 1 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return from British rule, and in September to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for regional summits.
Xiong Zhiyong, a professor of international relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, expects Chinese leaders to make more trips abroad as the global pandemic eases.
“The current international situation is too complicated, and leaders need to have the opportunity to discuss,” he said.
“Online communication is not enough.
“Meetings between leaders are important and irreplaceable.”
But entry into China remains difficult under China’s “zero-coronavirus” policy, while domestic travel is restricted whenever a severe outbreak occurs.
In addition to Mr. Biden, other leaders Xi will meet during his trip include Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Thai Prime Minister Prayut, French President Emmanuel Macron, Senegalese President McKisal and Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would ask Xi to remove billions of dollars in trade barriers if the two sides met, while Biden said earlier this week that he planned to discuss the growing U.S.-China trade tensions. tense situation. and China-Russia relations.
China has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused the United States and NATO of forcing Russia to do so.
It also fired missiles over Taiwan and appeared to be rehearsing a military blockade of the island following a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August.
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