Why did Xi hold back-to-back calls with Putin, Trump?

China's leader Xi Jinping held back-to-back calls with Russia's Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump this week, timing analysts said on Thursday was rare and significant as Beijing positions itself as a stable global power. "It does demonstrate that Xi can hold court and easily pick up the phone to speak with the two 'strong' leaders of the world," said Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Singapore's NTU. Russia and the US are two of the "most consequential" countries to China, Loh said, though he cautioned that the timing could have been "a simple scheduling issue".

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- Similar reports in The Star (Malaysia), Dhaka Tribune, The Economic Times (India), Manila Standard, and Taipei Times, all 5 Feb