Putin to Attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin

On August 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin is anticipated to arrive in Tianjin, a major city in northern China, to participate in a summit with Xi Jinping and approximately 20 other global leaders. This gathering, part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), will take place in the port city through Monday and follows closely behind an anticipated grand military parade in Beijing commemorating the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II.

The SCO includes members such as China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, alongside 16 other countries that hold observer or dialogue partner status. Both China and Russia have promoted the SCO as a counterbalance to the NATO alliance. In an interview released by China's Xinhua news agency prior to the summit, Putin expressed that the event would enhance the organisation's ability to address modern challenges and threats, promoting unity across the Eurasian region. He emphasized that these efforts would contribute to establishing a more equitable multipolar world order.

Amid rising tensions over China’s claims on Taiwan and Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, analysts suggest that both nations are keen to leverage platforms like the SCO to expand their influence. According to Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, China has consistently aimed to position the SCO as a non-Western coalition that fosters a new approach to international relations, which it argues is more democratic.