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While the state visit of Xi Jinping to Russia is in full swing, a smaller hashtag dedicated to the Xi-Putin meeting on Weibo is about what was served during the big dinner on Xi’s first night in Moscow (#两国元首今晚吃什么#).

The hashtag was hosted by RT (Russia Today), the Russian state media outlet which also has an account on Weibo (@今日俄罗斯RT) with over 1,7 million followers.

The account has been posting a lot about the “Putin Xi Meeting” (普习会) over the past few days.

The menu was as follows:

◼︎ Far Eastern Seafood appetizer (远东海鲜开胃菜)

◼︎ Blini with Quail & Mushrooms (鹌鹑和蘑菇煎饼)

◼︎ Sturgeon Fish Soup with Pirog (鲟鱼汤配皮罗格馅饼)
Clear soup with sturgeon is a Russian traditional dish; pirog is a popular Russian pie and in this case filled with meat rather than something sweet.

◼︎ Pomegranate Sorbet (石榴冰露)
Frozen sorbet, generally made using lime and mint.

◼︎ Pechora Nelma Fish with Vegetables (伯朝拉河鲑鱼配蔬菜)
Siberian white salmon from the Pechora River with vegetables.

◼︎ Venison served with Cherry Sauce

◼︎ Pavlova Dessert
Dessert made of meringue, whipped cream, and berries.

◼︎ “East Slope” and “West Slope” wine
Russian news agency TASS reported that two 2020 wines from Russia’s Divnomorskoye Estate winery were selected for the dinner.

On Weibo, the most popular comments were from those who said they wanted to see pictures of the dishes served.

Others wondered why vodka was not on the menu.

For more articles on China-Russian relations and related Weibo discussions, check our archives here.

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Op-eds authored by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were published in the other countries’ government newspapers ahead of Xi’s three-day state visit to Russia. Both articles emphasized the importance of partnership, mutual trust, and friendship between the two nations.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday, March 20, for his scheduled state visit to Russia.

During his three-day Moscow visit, Xi will have one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is the first time Xi visits Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On the first day of the top-level meeting, the Chinese state media outlet People’s Daily headlined that Xi Jinping published an article in the Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta on the occasion of his state visit, while also featuring the news about Putin’s signed article on the front page (the actual article was published on page three).

Meanwhile, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta did the same: they also featured Xi’s publication on the front page of their digital newspaper, while also turning Putin’s contribution to the People’s Daily into one of the main headlines. The newspaper also published a special section dedicated to Sino-Russian friendship.

Xi’s article, in Russian here and in Chinese here, was also translated to English and published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on their website here.

The article, titled “Forging Ahead to Open a New Chapter of China-Russia Friendship, Cooperation and Common Development” (“踔厉前行，开启中俄友好合作、共同发展新篇章”) mainly stresses the strong bond and mutual trust between China and Russia and the future of Sino-Russian relations, with the word “cooperation” being used 22 times and the word “friendship” used 8 times in the text. The most-mentioned word in the text is “China” (24 times); “Russia” was mentioned 22 times.

“Ukraine” was mentioned three times in one paragraph about the ‘Ukraine crisis,’ which emphasized China’s “impartial position” and its active promotion of peace talks.

Word cloud of Xi’s text for Russian newspaper (What’s on Weibo/Word Art).

The article by Putin is titled “Russia and China – A Future-Bound Partnership” (“俄罗斯和中国——面向未来的伙伴关系”) (link in Chinese, link in English) and it is similar to Xi’s op-ed in multiple ways, and also focused on stressing the special friendship between both countries and how similar they allegedly are in their culture, tradition, and foreign policy.

The article was actually also very similar to an earlier article titled “Russia and China: A Future-Oriented Strategic Partnership” published by Vladimir Putin for Chinese state media outlet Xinhua just before the Winter Olympics and Putin’s visit to China in 2022 (link in English).

The current article condemns America’s role in the international community and thanks China for its approach to the Ukrainian issue. The word that comes up most often in the text is “Russia” (20 times); “China” is mentioned 18 times. Words such as “cooperation” and “partnership” also come up a lot (7 and 5 times respectively).

Word cloud made from Putin’s text for People’s Daily, by What’s on Weibo via Word Art.

The hashtag “Xi Jinping Published Signed Article in Russian Media” (#习近平在俄罗斯媒体发表署名文章#) was posted on social media site Weibo by Xinhua.

China Daily posted images featuring several quotes from Xi’s signed article in Chinese and English.

While it was not the first time for Putin to post an op-ed in a Chinese state media newspaper, it was also not the first time for Xi Jinping to publish a signed article in a Russian government newspaper. He also posted one in 2015 (link in Chinese).

Xi previously also published letters or bylined articles in the media of other countries.

Ahead of his state visit to Finland in 2017, the Finnish newspaper Helsinki Times featured Xi’s article titled “Our Enduring Friendship” (“穿越历史的友谊”). Xi also stressed bilateral relations in letters to the foreign media of countries such as Myanmar, Greece, Nepal, North Korea, and others.

The term used by Xi in the article, “starting a new chapter” (“开启时代新篇章”) was repeated by many commenters replying to the topic on Weibo, where Xi’s Russia visit is covered by many media accounts in videos, text, and images.

In a recent post, political commentator Hu Xijin (@胡锡进) noted how Xi’s Russia visit made international headlines, underlining the major significance of the meeting. Hu wrote that no third party could hinder the “steady development of Sino-Russian relations.” At time of writing, only three out of more than a hundred replies to Hu’s post were displayed – the three replies consisted of hearts and thumbs up emoji only – with the other comments being filtered.

Although the meeting between Xi and Putin was promoted in the Weibo trending lists, most posts about the state visit only allowed some selected replies in the threads below, or simply closed the comment sections. This was also the case went Putin’s annual address in Moscow was featured by various accounts on Weibo.

For more articles on China-Russian relations and related Weibo discussions, check our archives here.

By Manya Koetse 

With contributions by Miranda Barnes

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©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.