TOI correspondent from Washington: If there was any doubt that China has its “wheels up” moment in its quest for global primacy, it was answered by way of Beijing bringing its own wheels to Washington this week.When Xi Jinping arrived for his state visit, the Chinese did not leave the business of presidential transportation to American hospitality. Following him across the Pacific was the Hongqi N701, China’s closely guarded, heavily armoured state limousine, an 18-foot rolling declaration that the country that once borrowed the West’s luxury cars now has a beauty of its own to match America’s “Beast” — the moniker for the US Presidential limousine.The symbolism was hard to miss. “Hongqi” means Red Flag — and it is not something Xi could have picked up at a Beijing dealership on the way to the airport. A custom-build vehicle, its exact specifications are classified, but it is believed to weigh more than three tons and feature armour, bullet-resistant glass, run-flat tyres, secure communications and protection against contaminated air.In other words, Xi did not merely bring his baggage, he brought his own automotive sovereignty. This matters because China was once accustomed to relying on host countries for presidential transportation — like India still is. Xi has increasingly reversed that practice; according to reports in the Chinese media, Beijing generally flies a primary and backup car ahead of Xi.The N701 made its public appearance in Hong Kong in 2022 and has since travelled with him to places including Russia, France, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and India, where it was brought to transport Xi for the BRICS meeting. For that matter, even Vladimir Putin arrived with Russia’s Aurus Senat, demonstrating that countries need not rely on foreign magnanimity or courtesy for the vehicles carrying their heads of state.Effectively, the Hongqi served as a metaphor for China’s transformation. The old China built American railroad; having long overtaken US in the area of locomotives, the new China wants to pull alongside on the American highway, press the accelerator, and make sure nobody mistakes it for a passenger.The United States still has a powerful military, a global alliance network, technical chops in spades – and the legendary Beast. China has its own Red Flag, its own technological ambitions, its own increasingly formidable industrial base and, increasingly, the confidence to behave like a peer rather than a supplicant.In fact, by most accounts, it was a touchy-feely Trump who was behaving like a supplicant during the visit, going by this withering observation from one wag: He touched president Xi more than his wife this weekend.
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