The world’s most powerful leaders gathered in New Delhi for the year’s premier diplomatic event—the G20 summit—but China’s Xi Jinping deemed it not worth his time. His absence sends a stark signal: China is done with the established world order.
Ditching the summit marks a dramatic turn in China’s foreign policy. For the past several years, Xi has apparently sought to make China an alternative to the West. Now Xi is positioning his country as a full-on opponent—ready to align its own bloc against the United States, its partners, and the international institutions they support.
It's too early for such an act. Putin's and Xi's absence rather seem like show of weakness on a personal level. They're not able to stand their own face to face with their rivals.
Well for Putin it was pretty obvious he wouldn't show since he'd be arrested and tried in the Hague. For Xi, it could have been a myriad of things from personal problems, health, something urgent happening that he had to deal with, etc. When you are a dictator, it all rests on your shoulders because you can't trust anyone else.