China S Xi Skips Dinner With Putin Allies As Precaution Against Covid Source

Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping stayed away from a dinner attended by 11 heads of state at a regional security summit in line with his delegation’s policy on COVID-19, he said in Reuters on Friday a source in the Uzbek government. . Xi, who is making his first trip abroad since the start of the pandemic, is attending a meeting this week of the China-Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Uzbekistan city of Samarkand. However, he was absent from group photos released late Thursday when the leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, went to dinner. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up An Uzbek government source confirmed Xi’s absence and said the Chinese delegation cited its COVID-19 policy as the reason. In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Xi, 69, is set to secure a historic third leadership term at a Communist Party congress starting next month. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov. Additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing. Written by Olzhas Auyezov. Edited by Clarence Fernandez Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.