2023-07-11 13:00:00
GEOPOLITICS – On July 4, under the Indian presidency, the “virtual summit” of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This Eurasian intergovernmental organization, whose current secretary general is the Chinese diplomat Zhang Ming, was established in 2001 by China, Russia and several Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) after the collapse of the bloc Soviet. While the NATO summit opens today in Vilnius (Lithuania) and discusses Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty, the SCO has already welcomed a new member: Iran. In a videoconference from Beijing, President Xi Jinping said “to oppose any form of hegemony” and favor partnership with China’s neighboring countries, including India and Pakistan, full members of the organization since 2017. Belarus could soon join these two superpowers within the SCO according to Sergei Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Announced at the time of its creation, the historical objective of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is to develop a geopolitical rapprochement between several countries within Eurasia, a region of the globe upset by the break-up of the Soviet bloc. and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991.
“Virtual” summit, Iran “full member”
Among his priorities : “Ensure regional and international security, fight against terrorism, extremism, separatism, drug and arms trafficking, organized and transnational crime”, but also “develop the economy”, ensure “Environmental protection” and support the “humanitarian field (culture, education, science and health)”.
On July 4, the SCO held its 23rd summit under the Indian presidency represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “virtually”, in other words in the form of a videoconference.
From Beijing, Xi Jinping intervened by stressing the importance of maintaining a “good neighborhood” between the members of the Eurasian organization, built around the idea of a “peaceful and harmonious coexistence of different civilizations”. There is life and international diplomacy beyond the war in Ukraine: this is in summary the message that was delivered by the Chinese president, who wishes to put forward the idea of a “dialogue” and a “partnership” to favor “the defense of peace and stability in the world”.
The use of the word “partnership” is a thinly veiled criticism of NATO, whose “alliance” is opening its own summit today in Lithuania, Vilnius. Xi Jinping does not hide his views against one of the instruments of Western hegemonism. According to him, it is time to “to oppose any form of hegemony”, to opt for the “multilateralism” and the “pragmatic cooperation” between the members of the SCO which includes, apart from Russia, two leading military powers, India and Pakistan.
During this summit, a new “full” member was welcomed: Iran. On June 30, SCO General Secretary Zhang Ming met with Iran’s Ambassador to China, Mohsen Bakhtiar. “Observer country” within the SCO since 2005, Iran had to wait this year to reach a rank that allows it to influence the orientations and decisions of the SCO.
However, can the Shanghai Cooperation Organization compete with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? Notwithstanding the undoubtedly more heterogeneous logistical capacities among the members of the SCO, the increasingly strong military partnership between China and Russia can no longer be ignored in the international balance of power. Last April, the Russian Minister of Defense met his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, with the key signature of cooperation agreements relating to the sharing of strategic knowledge between the members of the commands.
Putin thanks SCO for support following Wagner mutiny
Regarding the war in Ukraine, during the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked his Eurasian counterparts for their support following the June 24, 2023 military uprising by Wagner Group units, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The SCO governments gave him their support to protect “constitutional order, life and security of citizens” in Russia, he said during his speech. In fact, the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, found himself on the front line during negotiations between the Russian state and the leader of the private paramilitary group Wagner, Prigozhin.
According to Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry, Belarus has signed a “memorandum of commitment” to join the SCO. Until then, the country, geographically very anchored in Europe, had only been admitted to the rank of “observer country” in 2015. The procedure for full accession to the organization has now been launched.
Vladimir Putin also told his SCO counterparts that Russia would stand firm in the face of pressure, sanctions and “provocations” Western actions carried out in his view in the context of this conflict. He called for closer cooperation between the powers that make up the SCO such as China, India and now Iran, in order to represent, in his view, a real counterweight to the United States’ desire to impose a new system of international relations.
The SCO against Western protectionism
This will attributed to the SCO is found on the economic level. “We must oppose protectionism, unilateral sanctions and those who abuse the concept of national security to erect walls or disengage”, explained Xi Jinping. This is an underlined support from the Chinese president to Russia, exposed to American and European attempts to apply various blockades in order to constrain its economy.
But Xi Jinping pleads here identically for the interests of his own country, in particular with regard to the strategy of the United States to weaken China in the field of the acquisition of semiconductors. Indeed, in October 2022, the US government restricted Chinese purchases of microchips that can be used for military applications. And their manufacture has been locked down, with the ban on importing machines capable of designing them into China.
In response to its restrictions, last May Beijing outright banned Chinese companies from sourcing from US firm Micron Technology, citing “security vulnerabilities”.
An abandonment which above all shows the Chinese desire to develop its own semiconductor manufacturing sector and, no doubt, to keep an eye on the political evolution of Taiwan more than ever. Indeed, the island, totally unavoidable in the field (capable of designing, melting and modeling electronic chips) is under intense geopolitical tension.
What make useful the strengthening of links within the SCO to increase technological and commercial outlets. In this sense, the “virtual summit” of the SCO ended with the “New Delhi Declaration” which wishes the development of “new approaches to promote fairer and more effective international cooperation” in the economic world. According to this statement, this requires a “increasing the effectiveness of global institutions” et “the formation of a more representative, democratic, just and multipolar world order”.
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