China, Cuba Deepen Alliance as Xi and Díaz-Canel Meet in Moscow

A high-profile meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel during Moscow's Victory in Europe Day celebration on May 9 has underscored China's increasing prioritization of Cuba as a strategic ally — raising concerns in Washington about Beijing's expanding presence just 90 miles from U.S. shores.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the meeting as part of the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II — referred to in Russia as the "Victory in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union." But the optics and rhetoric of the encounter pointed to far more than a historical remembrance.