So near, yet so far: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis miss each other on back-to-back visits to US
Overlapping US visits raise eyebrows, but analysts say there are reasons they might not want to meet
Even in Washington, it is rare to see two such momentous state visits - one by the leader of the world's most populous country and the other by the head of one of the world's most influential religions - coincide so closely.
Yet despite being on US soil at the same time, President Xi Jinping and Pope Francis will miss each other by the slimmest of margins - not once, but twice. Yesterday, shortly before Xi arrived in Washington to be met by US Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife Jill, Francis was leaving town, heading for New York to address the United Nations General Assembly. Tomorrow, when Xi arrives to address the UN, the pope will be on his way to Philadelphia.
READ MORE: Xi's state visit to the US
The visits have prompted comparisons between the two and discussions on Sino-Vatican relations, strained since Mao Zedong severed ties in 1951.
The Washington Post said Francis was "riding a wave of popularity unmatched by his recent predecessors, a religious figure renowned for his common touch", while Xi was "an authoritarian leader who has cracked down on free expression".
While the overlapping visits are unprecedented, experts are not surprised the pair chose to miss each other.
Ties between China and the Vatican remain strained despite efforts to ease them. After Xi and Francis assumed office within hours of one another in 2013, the two exchanged letters of congratulations and the Vatican is believed to have reached out to Beijing to resume dialogue. China allowed Francis to fly across its airspace last year, and the pope extended goodwill by sending telegrams to Xi.