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Welcome to the World in ten an increasingly uncertain world.
This is the Times daily podcast dedicated to global security Today with me, Stuart Willey.
As the year draws to a close, we're bringing you a series of episodes that analyze 2024 from a security perspective and from the perspective of individual world leaders.
Yesterday we discussed the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Today we're focusing on Xi Jinping.
It's been an eventful 12 months for the Chinese president.
He's ramped up military exercises in the South China Sea near Taiwan.
He made a much touted trip to Europe in May, visiting France, Hungary and Serbia.
And he's also found his country in the middle of an escalating trade war with the United States, something that's only likely to increase once Donald Trump returns returns to the White House in the new year.
Our guest today is Professor Steve Tsang, Director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London.
Steve, does Xi Jinping end 2024 stronger or weaker than when he started it?
From Xi Jinping's perspective, he would not see himself ending 2024 weaker than before.
2024 was challenging, not least because of the problems that happened in the Middle east now, Syria falling to the rebels and all that.
But China also took advantage of the Gaza war to enhance its reach to the global south.
It did so effectively by abandoning Israel, a long standing strategic partner which had supplied weapon technologies to China.
But by standing very firmly with the Palestinian people and Hamas, China was able to reach out to the global south.
And that is something which matters hugely.
The US Election was in some ways disappointing to China because the pushback of a Trump administration again is not particularly appealing.
But on the other hand, from Beijing's perspective, things could have been much worse.