Financial TimesFinancial Times

The real meaning of Xi’s visit to Putin

By Gideon Rachman

20 Mar 2023 · 4 min read

Editor's Note

Xi and Putin "share an interest in accelerating the decline of western power," writes the FT's Gideon Rachman. China's peace plan is just part of a ploy to help bring this about, he argues.

“The international situation has now reached a new turning point. There are two winds in the world today, the east wind and the west wind . . . I believe, that the east wind is prevailing over the west wind.”

Those comments might read like an advance copy of the remarks that Xi Jinping intends to make during his visit to Moscow this week. In fact, they come from a speech made by another Chinese leader, Mao Zedong — visiting Moscow in 1957.

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