Published on: 15.09.2022 – 05:01 Modified on: 15.09.2022 – 08:23
This Thursday, September 15, the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will open in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. An event marked by the presence of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, who will meet on the sidelines of the summit.
Founded in 2001 but whose origins date back to 1996, this organization initially brought together Russia, China and 4 former Soviet republics of Central Asia. These countries were joined in 2016 by India and Pakistan and 2021 from Iran. Today Samarkand is therefore home to many powers, including two representatives of countries sitting on the UN Security Council, four nuclear powers and even states that are among the largest producers and consumers of energy.
It is an organization with a political, economic and even security vocation, a kind of club dominated by states eager to balance Western influence, analyzes our regional correspondent, Regis Gente. And this is precisely the opportunity for some of the participants, most of whom are authoritarian or dictatorial regimes, to show the West that the rest of the world matters.
This year the SCO is coming while the West is being challenged by Russia, China and many other powers that will be present in the “blue city”. One of the challenges of the meeting will therefore be to stage this balance of power.
The long-awaited Xi-Putin meeting
Many meetings between heads of state are planned during the summit, but one in particular attracts attention. Russian and Chinese Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will meet on the sidelines of the summit. And for the Kremlin master, this alliance is “a real alternative to western-oriented structures.” “It is an organization closed to the United States, the West or even Japan, which wants to promote good Sino-Russian understanding and also the republics of Central Asia,” explains Emmanuel Véron, geographer, associate researcher at the Naval School and in Inalco.
This To meet Xi Jinping – Vladimir Putin, six months after the Beijing Winter Olympics handshake, our correspondent in Beijing explains, Stephane Lagarde, actually risks eclipsing the rest of this conference, which is also expected to include Indian, Pakistani, Iranian and Turkish leaders. The terms “united front” with Russia against Western sanctions have appeared several times in the Chinese state media in recent days. Strong support from Beijing towards Moscow, at least rhetorically, again last week on Russian television when Chinese number three Li Zhanshu visited Russia: “On the issue of Ukraine, it can be said that the United States and NATO broke down Russia’s door directly and the threaten national security and the safety of the Russian people. Russia has taken the necessary steps. China understands these core interests and always fully supports Russia. »
“China stands ready to work with Russia to (…) promote a fairer and more reasonable international order,” said Yang Jiechi, head of diplomacy within the Chinese Communist Party, ahead of the summit. Moreover, this isn’t the first time Xi Jinping has brought his support to his “friend” Vladimir Putin, nor that Chinese and Russian diplomacy evoke the need to establish one ” new world order “. Russia, hit by sanctions and diplomatically isolated since the invasion of Ukraine, is trying to strengthen its ties with Asian countries, starting with China. Aside from the fact that the context has changed today, Russian troops have withdrawn to Ukraine. The exchange between the two men is therefore under close scrutiny. For its part, China is trying to rely on Moscow to expand its influence on the Russian forecourt of the former republics of the Soviet Union.
Stand out from the west
For other countries, this meeting is an opportunity to differentiate themselves a little more from the West and in particular from the United States. Therefore, Iran should sign a commitment protocol to become a full member of the SCO, because negotiations on its nuclear program have stalled.
Belarus, for its part, should start the process of joining the organization and initial various memoranda so that Egypt, Qatar or Saudi Arabia get closer. Thirty other documents are signed, aiming to strengthen the links between the member countries of an organization that is not a bloc but aims to stimulate synergies between its members.
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