It’s a meeting that looks like a front against the West. The Presidents of China, Xi Jinping, and Russia, Vladimir Putin, meet this Thursday in Uzbekistan for a regional summit amid heightened tensions, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine but also by American diplomacy towards Taiwan.
The two presidents will be joined by leaders of India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and other countries for a two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the city of Samarkand, a key stop on the ancient Silk Road. . If the main meeting of this summit takes place on Friday, the bilateral meeting between the Chinese and Russian presidents this Thursday will be the most scrutinized as their countries are at the heart of international diplomatic crises.
The Kremlin wants to align its alliances with Asia
For Vladimir Putin, who is trying to speed up a swing to Asia amid Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, this summit is an opportunity to show that Russia is not isolated on the world scene. Xi Jinping, who is making his first overseas trip to Central Asia since the coronavirus pandemic began, may further cement his position as top leader ahead of an October Chinese Communist Party congress where he is seeking a third term.
Their meeting also threw an air of defiance at the United States, which has taken the lead on sanctions against Moscow and military support for Kyiv, and which has drawn Beijing’s wrath by visiting Taiwan with several American officials. “The Shanghai Cooperation Organization offers a real alternative to Western-oriented structures,” said the Kremlin’s diplomatic adviser, Yuri Ouchakov, on Tuesday. It is the “largest organization in the world, comprising half the world’s population” and works for a “just international order,” he added.
Afghanistan is also on the discussion list
The SCO, whose members are China, Russia, India, Pakistan and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, was founded in 2001 as an instrument of political, economic and security cooperation in competition with Western organizations. It is neither a military alliance like NATO nor a political integration organization like the European Union, but its members work together to address common security challenges and promote trade. The conflict in Ukraine, the situation in Afghanistan or the unrest that has shaken several Central Asian countries in recent months should be among the main topics.