In the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin is an outcast—a man who unjustifiably invaded a sovereignty country, kills or jails his political opponents, is wanted for war crimes, and single-handedly destroyed whatever democratic system Russia had during the Boris Yeltsin era.
In China, however, Putin is a legitimate head-of-state, a partner and a personal friend of Xi Jinping, the strongman president and head of the Chinese Communist Party. In February, after a phone conversation between Putin and Xi, the Kremlin stated that relations with Beijing were at “an unprecedentedly high level,” a consequence in part of the U.S.-led sanctions regime driving Moscow into China’s orbit. Ties between the two countries are perhaps the warmest they have been in modern times. Putin’s state visit to China this week, where he will meet with Xi and other senior Chinese officials, is merely the icing on top of the cake.
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