MOSCOW – The atmospherics surrounding Xi Jinping’s coming trip to Russia – his first visit to a foreign country as China’s new president – remind me of a slogan from my early childhood in the late 1950’s: “Russia-China, Friendship Forever.” The irony is that, even in that slogan’s heyday, Sino-Russian relations were deteriorating fast, culminating in spasms of combat along the Amur River in Siberia less than a decade later.
MOSCOU – Le parasitage entourant le prochain voyage de Xi Jimping en Russie – sa première visite à l’étranger depuis sa nomination à la présidence de la Chine – me rappelle un slogan de mon enfance dans les années cinquante : « Russie-Chine, amitié pour toujours. »