Xi greets Putin in Beijing - days after Trump's China visit
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
China's leader Xi Jinping hosts a colourful welcome for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. The two leaders have met dozens of times. Mr Putin arrived in China shortly after President Trump ended his trip to the Chinese capital. Also in this podcast: Donald Trump tightens his grip on the Republican Party after orchestrating the defeat of a congressman who defied him. Pro-Palestinian activists go on trial in Germany - raising questions about the country's traditional support for Israel. Arsenal win the English Premier League for the first time in more than two decades. And we investigate a peculiar noise made by humpback whales.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.7 | I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Wednesday the 20th of May, these are our main stories. |
| 0:18.7 | The Russian president gets the red carpet treatment in Beijing. |
| 0:22.5 | We explore how close the relationship is between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. |
| 0:27.6 | Donald Trump tightens his grip on the Republican Party |
| 0:30.6 | ahead of this year's midterm elections with his chosen candidate |
| 0:34.1 | emerging victorious in Kentucky's closely watched primary. |
| 0:40.3 | Also in this podcast. |
| 0:42.5 | We have played with passion, emotion. |
| 0:45.5 | We've played. I feel like we honestly deserve this title. |
| 0:49.3 | We're just so happy. We can't honestly. We can't speak. I cannot speak. |
| 0:52.5 | To the delight of their fans, Arsenal win their first English Premier League title in 22 years. |
| 1:02.0 | We start in the Chinese capital, Beijing, |
| 1:05.0 | where the country's leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russia's President Putin |
| 1:08.8 | at a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. The two leaders |
| 1:12.6 | inspected a guard of honour as a band played. They were then cheered by a group of children. |
| 1:22.6 | It's only a week since President Trump made a similar journey and had a similar welcome. |
| 1:30.6 | The timing of the two visits is coincidental. Mr. Trump's had originally been due to take place weeks earlier. |
| 1:37.1 | Nevertheless, the images look good for China's President Xi Jinping, |
| 1:41.3 | world leaders beating a path to his door one after another. Mr. She and his |
| 1:46.3 | Russian counterpart have played up their friendship for years. But Mr. Putin is clearly the junior |
... |
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