Xi Meets Poland, Pakistan Leaders in Olympic Diplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Sunday with leaders from Poland and Pakistan in a flurry of diplomacy on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Xi reminded President Andrzej Duda that China wants to strengthen ties with Poland, whose cordial relationship with Beijing has irritated China's biggest competitor, the US.

Despite a US-led diplomatic boycott, Poland was the only European Union country to send an elected leader to the Games. Concerns of a Russian invasion on Ukraine, with which NATO member Poland shares a long border, prompted the gathering.

Xi, who has not left China since 2019, has recently visited with a number of international leaders, notably Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom China is forging a tighter informal connection.

The meetings highlight Xi's efforts to establish himself as a significant participant in international diplomacy while promoting China's single-party authoritarian political model as a viable alternative to the United States' long-dominant liberal world order.

Xi told Duda the two countries should “respect and accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns," the Communist Party newspaper Global Times reported.

Along with strengthening communication on “major international issues," they should “tap the potential of their economies, trade and investment, transportation and logistics, and high and new technologies, and lift bilateral practical cooperation to a new level," Xi said.

He stated that China is willing to participate actively in the development of a logistics hub in Poland and to assist Poland in becoming a vital node in the China-Europe supply chain.

No statement was immediately available from Duda. However, in Warsaw, his foreign policy advisor Jakub Kumoch said Poland wanted “the best possible relations with China and we can see a similar interest on the Chinese side.”

Poland has been viewed as one of China's backdoors into Europe, along with Hungary and Serbia. 

Beijing's unconditional support contrasts with Washington's expressed alarm over Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's increasingly dictatorial authority.

Poland is a member of the China-CEEC group, a Chinese attempt to strengthen ties with governments in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Xi's centrepiece "Belt and Road" programme to create infrastructure connecting China to Europe and beyond.

China's activities have alarmed France, Germany, and other Western European nations, who fear Beijing is attempting to make political inroads into the European Union.

The president of Poland plays a role in influencing Poland's foreign relations, but he is not the primary policymaker.

Xi offered stronger cooperation under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor investment initiative to build highways, power plants, and other infrastructure in a separate meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said China was willing to join hands with its longtime ally to “build a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era," Global Times reported.

“The strategic relationship between China and Pakistan is of prominence in a changing world," Xi was quoted as saying.

“China upholds fairness and justice in international affairs. China is willing to strengthen the coordination and cooperation with Pakistan in multilateral venues such as the UN and promote justice and world and regional peace," Xi said.