Body language expert reveals how attention-seeking Putin tries to engage President Xi with eye-contact... and the signals that show China's leader is the senior partner in their relationship

Daily Mail ^ | 5/16/2024 | Chris Jewers

[marcusmaximus]

Vladimir Putin tried to engage Xi Jinping with eye-contact during their meeting today, but it is clear that the Chinese president is the senior partner in the relationship between the world leaders, according to a body language expert.

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But amid the deepening partnership between the two nations, body language expert and author of 26 books on the subject Judi James said the meeting was perhaps more one-sided than Putin would want the world to believe.

The Russian employed subtle ways to show the bond between the two despots, Ms James said. But Xi, she noted, 'didn't get the memo.'

'One leader will put themselves out in terms of travel or how far they walk to greet their guest, or employ dominance signals like Trump's infamous 'Power shakes' or even power-patting,' she explained.

However, she added: 'When world leaders want to show active and often strategic alliances there will often be mutual body language acts of ingratiation to signal profound bonding to the rest of the world.

'Putin clearly takes heed of these rituals here but Xi's responses suggest he didn't get the memo or read the rule books in terms of mutually active ingratiation rituals.

'There are clearly cultural differences to take into consideration, but the overall result makes Putin look keener to ingratiate and show bonds [with his counterpart] here than a [...] higher status-looking Xi does,' who Ms James says was 'merely polite'.

[JonPreston]