Absence with significance: Why Xi Jinping is skipping BRICS for the first time, and what’s at stake.
When the BRICS summit in Brazil opens this Sunday (Jul 6), a key figure will be conspicuously missing from the table: Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It is an unprecedented no-show that will be sorely felt, while at the same time raising questions about China’s diplomatic priorities and possibly blunting Beijing’s ability to advance its agenda at the summit, say analysts.
“Considering how important China is to BRICS, his decision not to come would have a negative impact on the summit – no question about that,” Oliver Stuenkel, associate professor at the School of International Relations at Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV), a leading Brazilian think tank, told CNA.
Observers point to domestic pressures as a likely reason for Xi’s absence – be it uncertainty over fraught trade talks with the United States, sluggish consumption, a protracted property crisis or the ongoing planning for China’s next development chapter.
China is the economic anchor of BRICS, accounting for around 60 per cent of the grouping’s total nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Beijing is also the largest trading partner for most of the grouping’s members.
Xi’s no-show will mirror that of Russian President Putin, who is skipping the summit over an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Brazil is a signatory to the ICC, meaning it would be obliged to arrest the Russian leader if he entered the country. Putin also did not attend the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa, another signatory to the ICC.
Source: Channelnewsasia