Xi Jinping lashes ‘bullying behaviour’ of the world order
Xi Jinping called on world leaders – and dictators – to ‘adhere to fairness and justice, and oppose Cold War mentality’ in a speech to the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has criticised “bullying behaviour” in the world order as he addressed the country’s biggest diplomatic event of the year, the two-day Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit.
Mr Xi called on world leaders – and dictators from some of the world’s most autocratic regimes – to “adhere to fairness and justice … oppose Cold War mentality, camp confrontation, and bullying behaviour”, in a speech in the northern city of Tianjin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres are among almost 20 world leaders in the Chinese city of Tianjin for what Beijing said would be the largest ever gathering of the SCO.
Also at the gathering is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom Mr Xi told it was “vital to be friends” when they met on the sidelines of the event.
China and Russia have sometimes touted the SCO as an alternative to the NATO military alliance, with Putin saying on Sunday the summit would help “shape a fairer, multipolar world order”.
Mr Xi told the gathered leaders: “The current international situation is becoming chaotic and intertwined.
“The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging.
“Looking back, despite tumultuous times, we have achieved success by practising the Shanghai spirit.
“Looking to the future, with the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit, keep our feet on the ground, forge ahead, and better perform the functions of the organisation.”
Earlier, the Russian President attacked what he called the growing “militarisation” of the West, particularly by Japan and Germany, as he arrived at the summit.
In an interview with China’s state news agency, Xinhua, Putin spoke about tensions in Europe over his county’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The peoples of the Soviet Union and China bore the brunt of the fighting and suffered the heaviest losses,” he said, referring to World War II. Beijing will host a military parade on Wednesday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the war – and to celebrate China’s and Russia’s shared victory.
“It was our citizens who endured the greatest hardships in the struggle against the invaders and played a decisive role in defeating Nazism and militarism,” Putin said.
In the interview, Putin accused the West of rewriting history and ignoring “the verdicts of the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals”.
“Historical truth is being distorted and suppressed to suit their current political agendas,” he said. “Japanese militarism is being revived under the pretext of imaginary Russian or Chinese threats, while in Europe, including Germany, steps are being taken towards the remilitarisation of the continent, with little regard for historical parallels.”
Separately, Putin’s spokesman told Russian state media European nations were to blame for the failure of Donald Trump’s attempts to achieve peace in Ukraine.
“The European party of war does not calm down, which contrasts with the approaches of Putin and Trump,” Dmitry Peskov, told state media.
After arriving in Tianjin, Putin told Xinhua that the summit, which began on Sunday, would “strengthen the SCO’s capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and threats, and consolidate solidarity across the shared Eurasian space”.
“All this will help shape a fairer, multipolar world order,” Putin said.
The Chinese-founded group was created in the mid-1990s to deal with cross-border issues with Russia and Central Asian states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but has been refashioned into an increasingly anti-American club.
On Sunday, Mr Xi met on the sidelines of the SCO meeting with Mr Modi, who is visiting China for the first time in seven years as Asia’s two giants repair their relationship after a deadly border clash in 2020.
“China and India are two of the most ‘civilisational’ countries. We are the world’s two most populous countries and part of the Global South,” Mr Xi said in the opening remarks of their hour-long bilateral meeting.
“It is vital to be friends, a good neighbour, and [for] the ‘dragon’ and the ‘elephant’ to come together.”
In his opening remarks, Mr Modi said both countries had been moving in a positive direction since last year. “We are committed to taking our relations forward on the basis of mutual trust, respect and sensitivity,” Mr Modi said. “After the disengagement on the border, an atmosphere of peace and stability has been created.”
The Indian Prime Minister’s trip followed a two-day visit to Japan and comes days after US President Donald Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on imports from India.
Mr Modi’s attendance is being closely watched by capitals around the world, including Canberra.
The Indian Prime Minister’s trip to Japan before the meeting was intended to signal the ongoing importance of the relationship, even as ties with Washington have spectacularly frayed.
Before touching down in China, Mr Modi also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about Russia’s latest strikes on the country.
In a readout released by New Delhi, India’s press service said that Mr Modi “reaffirmed India’s steadfast and consistent position for peaceful settlement of the conflict and support for efforts aimed at earliest restoration of peace”.
Mr Modi is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Putin during the Tianjin summit. The Russian President will also reportedly visit India before the end of the year.
On Sunday, Mr Xi also met with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Nepal and Maldives, as well as Myanmar’s junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing.
The Myanmar junta chief, who has been shunned by Western countries after seizing power from the country’s elected government in 2021, has been invited to the meeting as a guest. On Sunday, Mr Xi pledged China’s support for his country’s membership of SCO.
Chinese state media said Mr Xi would host a banquet for the visiting leaders, among them Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was also scheduled to attend the meeting, but scrapped his China trip as deadly riots broke out in Jakarta.
Many of the visiting leaders will travel from Tianjin to China’s capital for a military parade to mark the end of World War II, or what the Chinese Communist Party calls “the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will make a rare international trip to Beijing for the military pageant.
Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the presence of Mr Xi, Putin, Mr Pezeshkian of Iran and the North Korean dynastic dictator in Beijing “underscores China’s role as the world’s leading authoritarian power”.
Mr Thomas noted the list of attendees at the parade was “more authoritarian” than the gathering for the 70th anniversary in 2015.
The parade attendees, along with the turnout for the preceding SCO meeting, also highlights Beijing’s progress in “neighbourhood diplomacy”.
”China is already a regional superpower. Most leaders who will be in attendance are from Central Asia, Southeast Asia or West Asia,” said Mr Thomas. “Leader-level representation from farther afield is limited.”
While almost all liberal democratic leaders are keeping well away from the event, some retired politicians are attending, among them two former Labor premiers: Bob Carr, who was also briefly Australia’s foreign minister and previously headed a China-focused think tank, and Daniel Andrews, who now runs a business consultancy.
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