Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in a show of solidarity on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, an event boycotted by most Western leaders over human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. The two strongmen–both of whom may turn out to be lifetime rulers of their vast, nuclear-armed nations–share a staunch authoritarian outlook at home and view the West with suspicion, if not hostility.
