The Beijing Winter Olympics ended Sunday without a major protest, diplomatic incident, virus debacle or war in Ukraine. For Chinese President Xi Jinping, that’s about as good as could be expected.
A U.S.-led diplomatic boycott had raised the stakes for governments around the world, with attendance framed as a choice between respecting human rights or cozying up to the world’s No. 2 economy. The most-powerful attendee, Russian President Vladimir Putin, added to the drama with a military buildup around Ukraine as Western powers sought to deter a conflict.
Still, Xi came away with some wins. He held at least 18 bilateral meetings with world leaders of mostly developing nations, inking several economic agreements on the sidelines. He also threw a banquet at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, attended by International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.