SCO9 -- A Joke -- Putin Rebuilding The Russian Empire -- September 18, 2022

This turned out to be a huge joke.

I assume it was Putin who wanted this meeting and who arranged this meeting.

I assume Putin wanted to "replicate" the G7 or the G20 or the EU or NATO or ASEAN or any similar western cooperative and so we got the SCO9 composed of

• Russia
• China
• North Korea (in absentia)
• Tajikistan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Uzbekistan
• Kazakhstan
• India (hard to believe)
• Pakistan (believable)
  

Perhaps in time, we get Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Most of these countries are at war with each other.

For full listing of the "stan brothers" see this post.

China-Russia Axis
Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

September 18, 2022: Shanghai Cooperation Council.

Putin's meeting with Xi highlights Russia's waning status on the world stage, link here.

Data points for SCO9 - 2022:

• Chinese President Xi Jingping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war. 
• The two discussed Taiwan, Ukraine, and more, with China emphasizing finding a balance between Russia and the West. 
• While Xi in many respects doubled down on China's relationship with Russia while in Uzbekistan, the Chinese leader has show sensitivity to Eurasia’s growing anxieties over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. 

Other data points:

• summit in Uzbekistan's ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand
• the first meeting between Putin and Xi since February in Beijing just days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when they signed a joint statement declaring the partnership between the two countries had "no limits."
• set up in 2001, the SCO consisted of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan before expanding in 2017 to include India and Pakistan. The summit offers a symbolic venue for the leaders as they look to deepen their partnership and voice opposition to the West.
• both Beijing and Moscow view the SCO as a vehicle to oppose Western-led institutions and offer what officials from both countries have framed as an alternative world order. China also appears eager to respond to the United States following an August visit to Taiwan by U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, which Beijing said was "provocative."