Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a widely watched trip aimed at showcasing the trust and “no-limits” partnership between the countries even as the war in Ukraine raged on.
In only his second known trip abroad since the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, Putin and his entourage flew into the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to Reuters video footage.
To my understanding, ancient China saw the rest of the world as barbarians at worst and derivative of Chinese culture at best. I don’t know that modern China consciously feels this way, but in my opinion it’s sort of their version of America’s Manifest Destiny, a cultural memory that says “Of course it’s ours, we’re the ones with the divine right”.