Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday touted his country’s deep alignment with China as he appeared on stage as guest of honor at a global gathering in Beijing, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping pitched his vision for a reshaped world order.<br />In a previously unannounced speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum, Putin hailed Xi’s flagship foreign policy initiative as “aiming to form a fairer, multi-polar world.”<br />Russia and China share an “aspiration for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation,” which includes “respecting civilization diversity and the right of every state for their own development model” – he added, in an apparent push back against calls for authoritarian leaders to promote human rights and political freedoms at home.<br />Putin spoke after Xi, who welcomed two dozen world leaders and more than a hundred delegations to an event marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative – an ambitious yet controversial undertaking to boost connectivity and trade across the world with Chinese infrastructure projects.<br />Xi lauded his initiative for providing an alternative development model for the world, saying it “established a new framework for international cooperation.”<br />The gathering in Beijing’s cavernous Great Hall of the People took place under the shadow of a war in the Middle East that threatens to escalate into broader regional conflict – and served as a stark showing of the deepening divisions between world powers.
