Video of Putin Playing Piano Garners Over a Million Views in Chinese Internet

The video clip of Russian President Vladimir Putin playing two Russian songs on piano before a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Belt and Road Forum on Sunday has gone viral in China.

The hashtag "Putin playing piano" has garnered more than a million views on Sina Weibo by press time. The post of the video has received a total of 60,000 likes.

"[For] an amateur, Putin's performance is basic in terms of skill and intermediate the in music sense," pianist Kong Xiangdong told the Global Times, noting that "he has some advantages to be the leader of a country from a global perspective."

"President Putin knows both arts and arms," said "Xixiya," a Sina Weibo user.

"I can't say I was playing. I just pressed the keys with two or three fingers, while waiting for our Chinese friend and partner. I thought if Mr. Peskov was filming something, then it was probably for personal purposes, for the archive. But they decided to publish it. Well, it's okay, I trust that you weren't disappointed," Putin commented on the video. The Russian president noted with regret that "the piano was out of tune." "It was quite difficult to play, even for me, a person who plays with two fingers," he said.

"Why that piano was not tuned properly? It means we cannot see Putin's real level of playing piano," Yuka, a netizen from East China's Fujian Province, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The Russian leader played two songs — the unofficial anthems of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

 

This article, written by Shan Jie, was originally published in the Global Times.