Putin’s gallantry upstages Xi

Russia's President Vladimir Putin puts a shawl on Peng Liyuan wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping as they arrive to watch a fireworks show after a welcome banquet for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing.

It was a warm gesture on a chilly night when Vladimir Putin wrapped a shawl around the wife of Xi Jinping while the Chinese President chatted with Barack Obama. The only problem — Mr. Putin came off looking gallant, the Chinese summit host gauche and inattentive.

Worse still were off-colour jokes that began to circulate about the real intentions of the divorced Russian President, a heartthrob among many Chinese women for his macho, man-of-action image.

That was too much for the Chinese authorities.

The incident at a performance linked to this week’s Asia-Pacific summit originally was broadcast on state broadcaster CCTV and spread online as a forwarded video. But it was soon scrubbed clean from the Chinese Internet.

“Mr. Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, was once a popular folk singer more famous than her husband, and in contrast to her predecessors she has taken on a much more public role, prominently joining her husband on trips abroad as part of China’s soft power push.