Xi-Putin; Real estate meeting Friday; US-China
Summary of today’s top items:
Putin-Xi meetings - From the readouts it looks like Putin has had a good visit with Xi, even if there has been no mention of the much discussed Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. The two sides issued a very long joint statement that I am still working through. The language about the US while unsurprising is concerning, including “strengthen coordination and cooperation to address the so-called "dual containment" policy of the United States, which is unconstructive and hostile towards China and Russia 加强协调配合，应对美国对中俄非建设性、敌对的所谓“双遏制”政策.” There is a lot more to parse through in this statement and so I hope collectively we can get some better insights over the next several days about what it means. I was in Beijing 35 years ago as a student, and I remember well Gorbachev’s May 15, 1989 visit for the Sino-Soviet Summit and rapprochement, and the protests that prevented the usual welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. History clearly has not ended.