Why Alexander Lukashenko's trip to China matters

Photo by Jason Lee – Pool/Getty Images For a leader who likes to present himself as something of a strongman, Alexander Lukashenko has looked decidedly weak of late. Since he crushed the mass protests that erupted over his rigging of the election in 2020, the Belarusian president has become increasingly dependent on Russia for his political, and personal, survival. Where previously he had tried to play Moscow and the West off against each other, he has been reduced to the role of grateful supplicant at the court of Vladimir Putin. Those dynamics were on display during Lukashenko's most recent visit…