For China, Russia reduces geopolitical risks but creates others. Take Russia’s political system, for example. Chinese officials may not always be on the same page as their Russian partners on all issues, but a Russia under Putin’s rule is preferable to the tinderbox that might ignite without him, some Chinese observers believe. In late September 2026, Russia held elections for the State Duma, the lower house of their parliament. Chinese observers followed the predictable results closely....

This article was originally published in The Diplomat today https://thediplomat.com/2026/05/russia-and-the-china-us-summit/ Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with China’s top leader Xi Jinping in Beijing soon after the China-U.S. summit on May 14-15. Do these back-to-back visits indicate a new phase of triangular diplomacy? Unlike Nixon-era China-U.S. summits, where U.S. and Chinese leaders sought to use their rapprochement to further isolate the Soviet Union, the upcoming...

Photo: https://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/25/c_138009515.htm On April 12th, Viktor Orbán—Hungary’s strongman leader for the past 16 years—was defeated resoundingly at the polls. A thorn in the side of the European Union, Orbán also was China’s most important friend in Europe and the first European country to sign a Belt and Road Initiative agreement. One week later, the election in Bulgaria of Rumen Radev as prime minister—typically portrayed as “pro-Russian” and a “Euroskeptic...