Xi Jinping hosted Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday with a near-identical state ceremony to the one rolled out for Donald Trump a week earlier, the two sides hailing "unyielding" ties even as Russia's long-sought Power of Siberia 2 pipeline failed to make it into the joint communiqué. The choreography of the back-to-back welcomes was deliberately mirrored, the Guardian reported, while Beijing took care to underline where the visits diverged.
What did the two leaders actually agree? The talks focused on economic ties and on joint criticism of the United States on nuclear and security questions, PBS NewsHour reported, with Hong Kong Free Press carrying Xi's "unyielding" language for the bilateral relationship. The Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline — a long-running Russian priority — was not announced, the BBC reported, leaving Putin with photo-op parity to 
Trump but no signature deliverable.
How did the two visits compare for Xi? Two presidential visits days apart is how Xi wants the world to see him: talking to everyone, tied to no one, the BBC reported. The Guardian's side-by-side write-up of the welcomes treated the mirrored choreography as the point — Beijing positioning itself as the convening power that both Washington and Moscow now need to be photographed with.
Was there any Taiwan dimension? Xi and Putin united in criticism of Trump and Washington on nuclear and security issues, Taipei Times reported, presenting the summit from Taipei's vantage as a hardening of the China-Russia bloc on questions central to cross-strait risk. Both men had publicly praised the bilateral relationship in opening remarks earlier in the day, in a Deutsche Welle dispatch from Beijing.
Figures referenced: Xi Jinping, Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
