Breaking EU ranks, Polish leader in Beijing diplomacy push

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Alone among his fellow European Union leaders, Poland’s president is in Beijing for the Winter Olympics opening in what his office said was a bid to maintain good ties with China and lobby for an easing of Russia-Ukraine tensions. President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sunday, his office said. Other EU leaders have followed the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, among others, in a stated or unstated diplomatic boycott of the Games due to China’s human rights record — while allowing their athletes to compete. Poland, which currently heads the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has good political relations and strong economic ties with China.