Xi jealous of Trump-Putin bromance

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, on Nov. 19. © AP

TOKYO -- In Barack Obama's final meeting as U.S. president with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, Xi mentioned his phone conversation with President-elect Donald Trump. 

Xi was quoted by China's state-run media as telling Obama that he would work with Trump to overcome differences, including those over global issues, in a constructive manner and enhance relations between the two countries from a new perspective, one that seeks to avoid conflict and confrontation.

Sino-Russo sweethearts

Despite the positive sentiment about Trump, Xi is likely more concerned about the future policy stance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Xi met just before his meeting with Obama. 

Unlike Obama, Trump has praised Putin as a strong leader. The plaudit shows Trump's intention to improve relations between the U.S. and Russia. 

In an editorial in mid-November, the Global Times, a newspaper on international affairs under the wing of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official paper, speculated about possible changes in international relations after Trump takes office.

Warning that a warming between the U.S. and Russia may affect close ties developed by China and Russia in recent years, the Global Times stressed that the Sino-Russo relationship should be the most stable bilateral tie involving a future with a triangle composed of China, the U.S. and Russia. 

The frank comment, rare for a Chinese newspaper, sounds like a declaration of love made to prevent a sweetheart from changing their mind. It does, in fact, reflect Xi's thinking.

Relations between the U.S. and Russia have deteriorated due to the Ukraine conflict, while tensions have also risen between the U.S. and China over the South China Sea. In response, China and Russia have deepened ties with the common purpose of checking the U.S. 

Although China maintains a nonaligned stance, China and Russia have recently had a honeymoon relationship, which even Chinese scholars are describing as, in effect, a quasi-alliance.