After Trump, Putin in Beijing to meet Xi Jinping

Today’s headlines: South Korean President Lee Jae-myung holds talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; The United States has dropped charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in exchange for a promise of new investment; Pakistan has sent Chinese jets and defence systems, along with thousands of troops, to Saudi Arabia. New criticism of the EU over its decision to meet with the Taliban regarding the repatriation of Afghan citizens.

RUSSIA – CHINA

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping today. The Kremlin has stated that Putin and Xi intend to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as “key international and regional issues”. The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Friendship Treaty signed in 2001 and has “no connection” with US President Donald Trump’s trip last week, Moscow reported.

GEORGIA – CHINA

The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Šalva Papuashvili, also travelled to China in recent days at the invitation of the Chinese National People’s Congress. This is the first official visit by Georgian parliamentarians to China in the last 20 years, and the head of the Georgia-China Friendship Group, as well as the vice-presidents and chairmen of the parliamentary committees on foreign affairs and agriculture, were also present in Beijing.

JAPAN – SOUTH KOREA

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this morning in Andong, his hometown, to discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, likely including North Korea and the US-Iran conflict in the Middle East. The two leaders began a closed-door meeting at a hotel in the centre of Andong, located about 190 kilometres south-east of Seoul, to be followed by a broader meeting and a joint press conference on the outcome of the talks.

INDIA

The US administration has initiated proceedings against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who is accused of bribing and lying to US investors and of bribing Indian officials to the tune of 5 million to secure project contracts. The Department of Justice took the decision after Adani committed to investing billion in the United States.

PAKISTAN – SAUDI ARABIA

Islamabad has sent Chinese-made fighter jets, the JF-17s, defence systems—also produced in Beijing—and at least 8,000 soldiers to Saudi Arabia, in addition to those already stationed in the Kingdom, several government and military sources told Reuters. Cooperation between the two countries is based on the mutual defence agreement signed in September last year with the aim of protecting Riyadh from further Iranian attacks.

AFGHANISTAN

The Committee to Protect Journalists has urged the European Commission to suspend the decision to invite Taliban representatives to Brussels, with whom the EU is expected to coordinate the deportation and repatriation of Afghan citizens. A BBC report citing UN data explains that today in Afghanistan three out of four people are unable to meet their basic needs, whilst 4.7 million people are on the brink of famine, to the extent that some parents find themselves forced to sell their children to survive.

MYANMAR

More than 1,000 textile workers in the Shwepyithar district of Yangon will lose their jobs at the end of June, as Kings Rich Fashion, a supplier to H&M, is ceasing operations. The factory management attributes the closure, after ten years of operation, to a decline in international orders, but workers claim it is a consequence of a wider industrial crisis afflicting Myanmar under the military regime, writes The Irrawaddy, a publication close to the Burmese opposition.