Braslia:
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for “more voices” to end the war in Ukraine and a ceasefire in Gaza during his state visit to the Brazilian capital, Chinese state media said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reiterated these points when he met Xi at a red carpet welcome in Brasilia, highlighting a joint roadmap for peace in Ukraine that they are proposing.
“In a world ravaged by armed conflict and political strife, China and Brazil put peace, diplomacy and dialogue first,” Lula said.
Xi said he wanted to see “more voices committed to peace, to pave the way for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine,” China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.
He also called for “a ceasefire and an early end to the war” in Gaza, the agency said.
As for Ukraine, the China-Brazil roadmap for peace mediation has been endorsed by Russia – China’s ally – but rejected by Kiev and its Western allies.
The Chinese president’s call for an end to fighting in Gaza – where Israel is waging an offensive against Hamas – echoed the call he and other G20 leaders made at a summit held in Rio on Monday and Tuesday.
The joint statement from that summit called for a “comprehensive” ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is also waging an offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council voted on a resolution calling for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, but it was vetoed by Israel’s ally, the United States.
China fills ‘vacuum’
Xi’s state visit to Brasilia highlighted closer ties between the largest economies in Asia and Latin America, which analysts said also reflected declining US influence.
The two leaders signed 35 cooperation agreements in areas such as agriculture, trade, technology and environmental protection.
Xi said China-Brazil relations are “at their best in history” and the two countries are now “reliable friends,” according to Xinhua.
Lula said he believed growing ties between Brazil and China “will exceed all expectations and pave the way for a new phase of bilateral relations.”
He added that he looked forward to welcoming Xi back to Brazil for a BRICS summit next July.
The Chinese leader played a prominent role at the G20 summit, and at an APEC summit held in Peru last week – in contrast to outgoing US President Joe Biden, who cut a ghostly figure.
Fellow leaders politically looked beyond Biden to Donald Trump’s coming US presidency, which starts on January 20.
“Xi Jinping clearly wants to fill the vacuum that will be created after the election of Trump, who does not value multilateralism,” Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations expert at Brazilian think tank Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP.
‘Synergies’
China is Brazil’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth more than $160 billion last year.
The South American agricultural power mainly sends soybeans and other primary raw materials to China, while the Asian giant sells semiconductors, phones, vehicles and medicines in Brazil.
Since returning to power in early 2023, Lula has tried to balance efforts to improve ties with both China and the United States.
A visit to Beijing this year by Vice President Geraldo Alckmin was seen as paving the way for Brazil to potentially join China’s Belt and Road Initiative to boost trade – a central pillar of Xi’s bid to curb China’s influence to expand abroad.
But there was no announcement along those lines during Xi’s visit. Instead, both leaders talked about finding “synergies” between that Chinese program and Brazil’s own infrastructure development program.
South American countries that have signed Beijing’s initiative include Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Among the agreements signed on Wednesday, Brazil would open its market to a Chinese satellite company, SpaceSail, which competes with Starlink, founded and led by South African-born US billionaire Elon Musk, which already covers remote Brazilian regions.
Musk has a turbulent history with Brazil, where courts forced his social media platform X to comply with the country’s laws against disinformation.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)