Free Republic

On Thursday, CIA Chief William Burns gave his first public speech as director at the Georgia Institute of Technology addressing the dual threat of China and Russia. Burns said Chinese President Xi Jinping is “a silent partner” in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “aggression” in Ukraine, warning that China poses the “greatest challenge” and “most profound test” that the agency has ever faced. KX News has covered the State Investment Board’s efforts to entirely divest from Russia, but what about Russia’s “silent partner,” China? The SIB has 69 investments in China that span a wide range of industries throughout the country....

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat for one-on-one talks over tea on Thursday as they continued meetings in Moscow. The Kremlin released a video of Putin serving the drink to Xi after wider talks with their delegations.

Russia and China warned on Wednesday that Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Iron Dome for America” missile defense system would destabilize global security and turn outer space into a new arena for armed confrontation. “The recently announced large-scale ‘Golden (Iron) Dome for America’ program is deeply destabilizing,” the two sides said in a joint statement during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow. The U.S. plan “explicitly provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal for conducting combat operations in space,” it added. -snip- Moscow and Beijing claimed nuclear states must “reject Cold War mentality” and avoid seeking military...

Putin and Xi say they 'intend' to play a role in US-Iran nuclear negotiations. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for formal talks on Thursday for the first time since President Donald Trump exacerbated the U.S.-China trade war last month. In a statement at the top of the meeting, Xi pledged to stand by his anti-Western ally against "power politics" and "bullying on the international stage." "Eighty years ago, the peoples of China and Russia made tremendous sacrifices to secure a great victory, contributing an indelible chapter to the cause of world peace and human progress,"...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping called President Donald Trump's plan for a "Golden Dome" air defense system "deeply destabilizing," after in-person talks between the two leaders. Trump's vision for the Golden Dome is that the military will create a multi-layered defense shield that would be able to protect the continental United States to deter and even intercept any aerial attack against the homeland. "The recently announced large-scale program 'Golden (Iron) Dome for America' is also deeply destabilizing in nature," a joint statement from Xi and Putin said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russia's Vladimir Putin on Thursday their two countries should be "friends of steel", as they pledged to raise cooperation to a new level and "decisively" counter the influence of the United States. At talks in the Kremlin, the two leaders cast themselves as defenders of a new world order no longer dominated by the U.S. In a lengthy joint statement, they said they would deepen relations in all areas, including military ties, and "strengthen coordination in order to decisively counter Washington's course of 'dual containment' of Russia and China". -snip- Xi, whose country is currently...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that his country will stand with Moscow against “unilateralism and hegemonic bullying” during a visit to the country to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. -snip- “In the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying behaviour, China will work with Russia to shoulder the special responsibilities of major world powers,” Xi told Putin. -snip- Xi said that China and Russia would jointly defend the “correct view” of the history of WWII, protect the “authority and status” of the United Nations, and defend the...

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a lengthy diplomatic visit in the aftermath of a massive drone attack on the Russian capital. Mr. Xi traveled to Russia for a four-day visit that will include signing numerous cooperation agreements and attending a Victory Day parade in Moscow on Friday celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The visit is part of the “no limits” partnership between Russia and China, which Mr. Xi hopes to deepen with the trip. Mr. Xi is also expected to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine with Russian...

With four hats, including national security adviser, the former Trump rival is defying predictions he’d be a weak player. Marco Rubio is doing big things under President Donald Trump — way more than nearly anyone expected. The secretary of State was once thought of as one of the weakest players in the Trump orbit, a man who wouldn’t last long in the Cabinet because he faced many internal rivals and had major policy differences with Trump and the MAGA base. But Rubio has deftly earned the president’s trust, enough so that Trump this week gave him another powerful job as...

Russia said on Sunday that Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in the country’s capital Moscow on an official visit, as it is set to host ceremonial events marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II next week. A statement by the Kremlin said that Xi will pay an official visit to Moscow between May 7-10, at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, where he will take part in Victory Day events in the country’s capital.

The Kremlin said on Saturday it wanted a definitive response from Ukraine to Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer of a three-day ceasefire next week, criticising the reaction so far as ambiguous and historically wrong. Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War Two. The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run on May 8, May 9 - when Putin will host international leaders on Moscow's Red Square, including Chinese President Xi Jinping - and May 10. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy...

Finance minister Katsunobu Kato hints that country’s more than $1tn in Treasuries gives it leverage in negotiations Japan’s finance minister has publicly identified the country’s more than $1tn holdings of US Treasuries as a “card” in its trade negotiations with the Trump administration, in a rare baring of teeth by America’s closest ally in Asia. Speaking during a television interview on Friday, Katsunobu Kato was asked whether Japan would use its traditional stance as a non-seller of Treasuries as a tool in trade talks with Washington. “It does exist as a card,” said Kato, adding that “whether or not we...

Will Zelensky attack ther Victory Day parade and escalate the war to the maximum? On the one hand, we all know ‘talk is cheap’, so it may be that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is just posturing when he hints that his forces may well attack the May 9th Victory Day Parade in Moscow, Russia – an event that will gather thousands of people, including as many as 20 heads of state. This would amount to an especially damning escalation since Putin declared a 3-day truce from May 8-10 – a proposal that Kiev sneered at, but hasn’t publicly rejected. However,...

Workers throughout China are flooding the streets in revolt as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs slam the fragile Chinese export economy. From the cramped streets of Sichuan in the southwest to the cold outskirts of Inner Mongolia in the northeast, furious workers are demanding back pay and protesting mass layoffs as factories shutter under pressure from Trump’s tariffs. Outside a LED light manufacturing plant near Shanghai, thousands of unpaid workers shouted furiously at company managers over wages that haven’t been paid since January. In central China’s Dao County, a similar scene unfolded outside a sporting goods store after the company...

Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) just fired a warning shot and it landed squarely on Boeing's (NYSE:BA) front porch. CEO Michael O'Leary says the airline could cancel its jaw-dropping $33 billion order for 330 Boeing jets if U.S. tariffs start driving up prices. His message? If the aircraft get more expensive because of politics, Ryanair will walk. O'Leary made it clear in a letter to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi: Ryanair isn't in the business of paying for Washington's trade wars. And if Boeing loses its price edge? He's open to alternatives, even China's Comac.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow to participate in the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War on May 9, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "We expect the Chinese leader to attend. There will be a separate visit of Chairman Xi. To which we attach great importance and are preparing," the spokesman said while delivering a lecture at the educational marathon "Knowledge. First," News.Az reports, citing TASS.

In the tariff war between China and the United States, a lot of chatter in the Pravda Media is about Xi Jinping's defiance, his outreach to European countries and other less important but collectively significant developing countries, and his retaliatory moves against America. They make it sound like China has a lot of cards to play in the trade war with America. China has put civilian government officials on a "wartime footing” and ordered a diplomatic charm offensive aimed at encouraging other countries to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. https://t.co/rZWU2zsARQ— The Japan Times (@japantimes) April 14, 2025Collectively,...

January 21, 2022 With inflation at a record high, millions of its citizens fleeing the country, and a political opposition recognized by most Western democracies as the legitimate government of Venezuela, the regime of Nicolás Maduro seemed to be on the brink of collapse in 2019. But Maduro regime survived, thanks to a number of factors — among them the external support it received from malign state actors such as Russia and China. Moscow and Beijing never wavered in their political support of the Venezuelan regime, or of Maduro himself, including by refusing to recognize the constitutionally mandated interim presidency...

China has issued an apparent rebuke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he alleged that Beijing is aware its citizens are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian urged “relevant parties” not to make “irresponsible remarks”. “We advise the relevant parties to recognise China’s role correctly and clear-headedly,” Lin said, without directly naming Ukraine or Zelenskyy. -snip- Also on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Zelenskyy was “wrong” to suggest Russia was dragging China into the Ukraine conflict. “Partner, friend, and comrade. China has always taken a very balanced position, so Zelenskyy is...

The White House confirmed that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping discussed Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou with President Joe Biden days before she was released on Friday.“It should not come at no surprise that President Xi raised the Huawei official,” Psaki said. “But again there was no negation on this call.”The call between Biden and Xi took place September 9 and lasted an hour and a half, according to Biden.The Biden Justice Department dropped charges against Wanzhou, setting her free from house arrest in Vancouver. Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in 2018 during the Trump administration on charges she violated...