Journalist Zhang Lijia, author of “Socialism Is Great!”: A Worker’s Memoir of the New China, looks at the upcoming meeting in Shenzhen between Trump, Xi Jinping, and Putin, and compares it with the 1945 Yalta meeting of Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt on her weblog. Could this be another historic meeting that reshapes the world, she asks herself.
Zhang Lijia:
From Yalta to Shenzhen: Will History Repeat Itself?
In February 1945, three of the world’s most powerful leaders—Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin—met at Yalta in Crimea to discuss the shape of the postwar world. Their decisions helped determine the fate of Europe and laid the foundations for the international order that followed.
Eighty-one years later, another three powerful leaders—Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin—are scheduled to meet next Thursday in Shenzhen, southern China, on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
Could this be another historic meeting that reshapes the world?
There are striking parallels, but also important differences. At Yalta, the three leaders were wartime allies facing a common enemy. Today, the US, China and Russia are strategic rivals, with competing interests and very different visions of the world.
Perhaps the most telling change is in the cast of characters. In 1945, Britain was at the top table, while China, despite being a major Allied power, was absent. Today, Britain is no longer one of the three, and China is hosting the meeting. What a remarkable illustration of the shifting balance of global power!
At Yalta, the great powers discussed the fate of smaller nations, often without their participation. Will the three leaders in Shenzhen attempt to carve out their own spheres of influence? Will Ukraine and Taiwan feature in their calculations, even if not on the formal agenda?
Of course, a meeting of three powerful men does not necessarily make history. Yalta helped shape the postwar world. Will Shenzhen prove equally consequential? Only time will tell.
Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.
Are you looking for more stories by Zhang Lijia? Do check out this list.
