If one image could describe the Beijing summit, it would probably be the photo that best expresses what happened in China, showing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un walking together, smiling and full of self-confidence.

The three politicians have never participated in a joint meeting, and the photo shows that Beijing is not at all interested in what the West thinks about Russian aggression against Ukraine: for Xi Jinping, Putin and North Korea, which supports the Russian army with weapons, ammunition, and tens of thousands of soldiers, are completely acceptable partners.

Among friends

At the Beijing summit, everyone called the other leaders friends, Putin and Xi said that relations between the two countries had never been as good as they are now, and Kim Jong-un promised that he would support the Russian military for as long as possible. Given the developments of recent weeks, it is not surprising, but it is certainly a new element that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO summit in Tianjin despite the fact that relations between China and India are unsettled, and the two countries have an unresolved border dispute.

Putin and his host made no secret of the fact that they want to bring together the countries of the global south to build a new world order, one in which the West does not have the disproportionate influence that Beijing and Moscow believe is necessary. At the level of words, one could only welcome what Putin and Xi Jinping are talking about; they say they want an order where countries recognize the supremacy of international law and it becomes possible to establish relations based on equality."We want some countries not to be able to impose their own rules on other states," is the main slogan.

However, contrary to the statements of Beijing and Moscow, the two states are not behaving at all as if they care about international law and freedoms. China and Russia do not respect human rights, and while Beijing is now working to take away the remaining autonomy of Tibet, which was annexed after World War II, Russia dismembered Georgia in 2008 and then launched a territorial war against Ukraine in 2014 and 2022, which disregards international law.

Sanctions all over the place

While the states participating in the Tianjin and Beijing summits do indeed have common interests, it is also clear that US President Donald Trump's foreign policy has also contributed to putting India, China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, which is also represented at the highest level, on the same side.