Re: Visiting Russian Defence Minsiter touts Su35, S400 and IL76 upgrad
Well, I will take your explanation as an explanation, but still, I won't put too much implication on it, it is just a handshake.The reason the host stands at the left, is not "diplomatic gesture", but because the host is milking the opportunity.
Since, for example, Cameron is the host in the first pic, he takes advantage of the situation and positions himself on the left of the pic, so that when Putin arrives, he (Putin) will be forced to be on the right of the pic, thus ,making Cameron more dominant.
Xu Qilang either does not know about this or chose not to use it.