Xi Jinping recruits Putin in battle against the West

However, Xi made it clear this week where his allegiances lie. On his first overseas trip during his third term, Xi landed to a red-carpet welcome in Moscow on Tuesday. The timing was designed to give the finger to the United States and NATO, taking place just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. It also closely followed the formalisation of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement between Australia, the US and the UK, which Beijing sees as an explicit move by western forces to contain its influence in the Indo-Pacific. Referring to each other as…