Lavrov arrives in China ahead of Putin, who may visit China before Trump

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has just concluded his trip to North Korea, and now Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is set to visit China.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Lavrov will be visiting China from Tuesday to Wednesday. Although the announcement consists of only a single sentence, the significance of this visit is far from ordinary.

It should be noted that Russian President Putin is also scheduled to visit China this year in the first half of the year. Lavrov’s current trip to China may well be a prelude to Putin’s upcoming visit.

Last year, Putin came to China to attend the SCO summit and the September 3rd military parade. Now, he is set to visit again in the first half of this year. Such frequent high-level diplomatic exchanges indicate that Sino-Russian cooperation is further deepening, with expanding areas of collaboration—necessitating timely communication and coordination.

Notably, U.S. President Trump is also expected to visit China, tentatively scheduled for next month. Originally planned to arrive at the beginning of the month, the visit had to be postponed due to reasons widely known.

However, given the current situation in the Middle East, the United States may find it difficult to pull away anytime soon. Coupled with the collapse of negotiations in Islamabad, there remains a possibility of further escalation of conflict.

If the situation continues to deteriorate, Trump’s visit to China might be delayed again—directly affecting which leader arrives in China first: Trump or Putin.

On the surface, arrival order may seem trivial, but symbolically, it carries vastly different implications. Take Japan as an example: former Minister Takamori Asanao rushed to visit the White House before Trump's trip to China, fearing that Trump’s softened stance toward China afterward would cause Japan to lose its strategic advantage.

The U.S. shares similar concerns—but they cannot control when Putin will visit China, nor can they determine when Trump will come. U.S. Secretary of State Rubio cannot act like Lavrov, coming to China in advance on behalf of the president—after all, Rubio has not yet been removed from China’s sanctions list.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862344040536330/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author