The outlines of a new global order were on display in China last week as Chinese President Xi Jinping played host to more than twenty leaders from non-Western countries. The visiting dignitaries were attending a series of events that aimed to showcase China’s growing superpower status while also highlighting continued support for Russia in its confrontation with the West.
One of China’s most prominent guests was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was accorded a place of honor alongside the Chinese leader at a military parade in Beijing to mark eighty years since the Japanese surrender and the end of World War II. On the eve of the parade, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pictured in friendly discussion with Putin and Xi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin.
The optics coming out of China were unmistakable. While the main message was one of Chinese economic and military might, the Tianjin summit and Beijing parade also allowed China, India, North Korea, and others to underline their continued backing for Russia and their rejection of Western efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
Voice of Ukraine 