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As Donald J. Trump has injected chaos into the world by roiling America\u2019s alliances and threatening economic turmoil with his wall of tariffs, China has tried to sell a consistent message<\/a>: We will be a force of global stability during a turbulent time.<\/p>\n That pitch will be more difficult to square as Xi Jinping visits Moscow this week for talks with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who will honor the Chinese leader as the \u201cmain guest\u201d at a military parade on Friday marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union\u2019s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.<\/p>\n For Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin, the visit is a chance to burnish their legitimacy as leaders of countries that defeated fascist Germany and imperial Japan. Mr. Xi wants to use the anniversary to draw parallels between fascism and what he has described as American bullying.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must learn from history, draw wisdom and strength from the profound lessons of the Second World War and the great victory of the anti-fascist war, resolutely oppose all forms of hegemony and power politics, and jointly create a better future for mankind,\u201d Mr. Xi said in a signed article published in Russian media on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But his presence alongside Mr. Putin at Red Square will also inevitably remind the world of China\u2019s support for Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, which has been grinding on for more than three years, killing hundreds of thousands and upending European security.<\/p>\n The optics of the visit could undermine China\u2019s efforts to repair its relationship with Europe to try to offset the pain of its punishing trade war with the United States. <\/strong>American and Chinese officials will hold initial trade talks this weekend<\/a> in Switzerland, but the likelihood of a prolonged fight remains high. China needs to maintain access to, or even expand, markets like Europe, for its exports that had previously been destined for American buyers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cXi\u2019s presence in Moscow, alongside Putin, will serve as a stark reminder to Europe of just how close this relationship has become, and the threat that it could one day pose to NATO\u2019s eastern flank,\u201d said Noah Barkin, a senior adviser at Rhodium Group and a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States based in Berlin.<\/p>\n That closeness may have been overshadowed recently by Mr. Trump\u2019s attempts to strike a peace deal in Ukraine that heavily favored Russia, Mr. Barkin added, but it will come back into focus now that China is trying to court Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Beijing has long sought to peel the affluent nations of the European Union from Washington\u2019s influence. Those efforts have been stymied by tensions over human rights; a yawning trade imbalance fueled by the flood of Chinese exports<\/a> like electric vehicles; and most significantly, China\u2019s continued diplomatic and economic support for Russia despite the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n In recent days, Beijing has been trying to initiate a thaw with Brussels, sensing an opening from the fracturing of the trans-Atlantic alliance because of the Trump administration\u2019s antagonism toward Europe. In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Xi called for a \u201chealthy and stable China-E.U. relationship.\u201d <\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said China and the European Parliament had agreed to remove restrictions on exchanges between their officials, and confirmed that China had lifted sanctions on members of the European Parliament. China\u2019s moves have been seen by analysts as an attempt to persuade the Europeans to restart talks on a stalled investment agreement, though there appears to be little enthusiasm in Brussels for doing so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n