Xi, Putin Revel In Pageantry As Show Of Defiance

Upon arriving in Russia Monday, Xi Jinping was greeted on the runway by a military band. Regardless of circumstance, the Kremlin would've made a spectacle of Xi's state visit this week. But in the current geopolitical environment, the pomp and ceremony was designed specifically to reinforce the idea that Vladimir Putin has the unwavering support of Beijing. It says a lot about a nation when a doomsday arsenal of nuclear weapons and an ocean of fossil fuels aren't enough to compensate for one m