Chinese President Xi Jinping meets leaders of Poland and Pakistan as Olympic diplomacy

In a flurry of diplomatic discussions on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with leaders from Poland and Pakistan on Sunday.

Xi told President Andrzej Duda that China wants to strengthen ties with Poland, whose warm relationship with Beijing has irritated the country’s main rival, the United States.

Despite a diplomatic boycott led by the United States, Poland was the only European Union country to send an elected leader to the Games. The meeting took place amid fears of Russian attack on Ukrain with which Poland shares a lengthy border .

Xi, who has not left China since 2019, has met with a number of world leaders in recent days, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom China is forming a closer informal alliance.