Xi embarks on whirlwind diplomatic tour

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Before his expected visit to the US to meet President Donald Trump, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is embarking on a whirlwind diplomatic tour that one expert said is designed to show “China has friends and options around the world at precisely the moment Washington is alienating many of its allies.”
Xi is in Kyrgyzstan for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, set up as a counterbalance to the West, and will later head to India, whose friendship with the US is being tested by Trump’s tariffs.
In between, in Egypt — a major recipient of US military assistance — Xi will seek to deepen diplomatic, commercial, and security ties that the Chinese foreign ministry describes as “at their best in history.”

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