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By Micah McCartney
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Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to China this week has been met online with a flood of mockery and memes.
One satirical account on X (formerly Twitter) joked that Putin, often referred to as the "junior partner" to Chinese President Xi Jinping, had arrived for his "mid-period employee review."
The visit, aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, was widely seen as a display of the growing imbalance in the relationship between Russia and China.
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Former Ukrainian government official Anton Gerashchenko shared a video in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who accompanied Putin on the trip, compared the delegation to a donkey.
"As they say in the East: the guest is the host's donkey. Therefore, all surprises depend on the kind of offers that the Chinese president and his team made to our president," the Russian translation read.
Another user on X dubbed Putin "Xi's little buddy," posting a meme featuring Xi and Putin as the Disney characters Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, respectively. The Chinese government began censoring mentions and images of Pooh several years ago because of the popularity of memes comparing the honey-loving bear to Xi.
Euan Graham, a security analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, also took a swipe at Putin. "Russians will live to regret Putin's embrace of China, when the reality of their reduced status eventually dawns. At least Xi hasn't routed him via Shanghai first—though the day will come," he wrote.
Newsweek reached out by email to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
During their talks, Xi and Putin projected their camaraderie, hailing a new era in China-Russia relations. Putin's visit, his first official international trip since being reelected in March to a fifth term, comes as his invasion of Ukraine is in its third year. The U.S. and NATO continue to pursue further international isolation of Moscow amid Russian forces' advances in the Eastern European country.
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Burdened by international sanctions over Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly reliant on Chinese trade to sustain its economy.
Xi and Putin declared a "no-limits partnership" just days before the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. China, which is now Russia's largest importer of crude oil, has become an economic lifeline to Putin's nation. The value of bilateral trade soared from around $140 billion in 2021 to $240 billion last year.
However, new Biden administration secondary sanctions over business that could support the Kremlin's military-industrial base have begun to affect economic ties. Major Chinese banks have stopped accepting payments from Russian traders to avoid these sanctions.
Despite a surge in trade between China and Russia over the past two years, Chinese customs data showed exports to Russia dipped last month for the first time since the Ukraine war began.
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