Great safety stop in China: probably a lot of symbolism, few plans

Tomorrow the leaders of Russia, India, Iran and dozens of heads of state and international organizations will come together in China for the largest Shanghai Cooperation Organization Top (SCO) ever. Little is known about the plans presented at the top. Experts mainly speak of great symbolic value.

Trade and safety organization SCO has been considerably expanded in recent years. This has grown the influence, but it has also become more difficult to reach agreement.

Yet China seems to have succeeded with this top. Never before has so many heads of state participated in a SCO summit. Certainly now that tensions between the US and a number of Asian countries are increasing, China can present themselves as a responsible player looking for a connection instead of conflict.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization

In 1996, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan founded the Shanghai five to work together militarily. Later this grew into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which now has ten member states. The organization is the largest regional organization in the world, measured in land area, total economy and population.

SCO, which mainly focuses on regional safety, has expanded considerably in recent years. Although that gives the organization more weight, it also makes it difficult to achieve joint goals. For example, India is skeptical about the Anti -Western course that a number of Member States wants to take, including China. The countries are also divided on supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine.

But most of the discussion is conducted within SCO’s regional anti-terrorism body, which coordinates cooperation in the field of intelligence and combating terrorism. Or, in the words of the SCO, fighting the “three evils”: terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.

Nowhere is China’s influence within the organization as clear as here. The qualification “three evils” comes from the tube of the Chinese Communist Party. In recent years, China has frequently used this terminology to justify attacks on the Uyghurs.

Human rights organizations have been warning for years about the witch hunt that various Member States, with mutual help, are against religious minorities. In some Member States, however, there is criticism of this state of affairs among the population.

Within the SCO it also clashes between Pakistan (traditionally a good ally of China) and India. India wants Pakistani support to armed groups in Kashmir. Pakistan wants to prevent that.

Few plans

of the plans that the SCO will present this weekend, we don’t have to expect much, says Claus Soong. He is a specialist in the field of China’s global strategy at the German Merics Institute.

According to him, the SCO has little umbrella decisiveness. “In contrast to another regional security organizations, such as NATO, the SCO has no compulsory mutual assistance,” he explains. This makes joint action difficult.

We also saw that when Israel attacked Iran this year. “SCO did reject the attack, but India did not endeavor this, and no further action was taken,” says Soong. According to him, that will not be very different in the future.

The SCO will reorganize considerably in the coming years. To treat conflicts more efficiently, new committees will be established. China will take a leading role in this reorganization.

Symbol politics

The top is especially of strategic importance for China to present himself as the leader of the region. There are dozens of leaders visiting and the agenda is steeped in the “Shanghai Spirit”, with which it talks about values ​​such as equality and sovereignty.

In this way, China tries to sell an alternative world order. “China tries to use the SCO to expand its influence, especially as a counterbalance to the United States,” says Steven David, China expert at Johns Hopkins University.

The country often does not live the principles of equality and sovereignty itself, says David. As an example, he mentions the absence of the conviction of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to David, it is mainly about symbolism. “With China as the host of the SCO, the message is propagated that Beijing wants to treat countries as equals and bring them together, while Washington alienates or withdraws worldwide or withdraw.”