BRASILIA, Nov 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will walk a diplomatic tightrope Wednesday when he hosts his Chinese counterpart, as he seeks to boost ties with Beijing and avoid upsetting key ally Donald Trump.
Just weeks after his first official visit to China, Bolsonaro will hold talks with Xi Jinping in Brazil’s capital Brasilia on the eve of a summit with their BRICS counterparts from Russia, India and South Africa.
Bolsonaro’s bilateral meeting with Xi — one of several to be held on the sidelines of the annual BRICS get-together that will focus on economic growth and innovation — comes as the United States and China wage a protracted trade war that has roiled the global economy.
Bolsonaro — an ardent admirer of Trump with whom he shares a contempt for multilateralism and left-wing ideology — has been under pressure from Brazil’s powerful beef, farming and mining sectors to stay on good terms with China, the Latin American country’s biggest trade partner.
Bolsonaro had threatened to torpedo the relationship during last year’s election campaign when he accused China of “buying Brazil,” and his pro-business government has been trying to repair the damage ever since.
The BRICS summit will be the first time Bolsonaro, notoriously awkward at public events, has hosted a major international gathering since he took office in January.
Bolsonaro sent a positive signal during his visit to Beijing last month when he declared Communist-ruled China “a capitalist country.”
Brazil is China’s biggest source of soy imports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have confirmed they will attend. — NNN-AGENCIES
