China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to US

Russia's Vladimir Putin, India's Narendra Modi and China's Xi Jinping hold hands in Chinese summit — Putin, Modi and Jinping hold hands in Chinese summit

(Image credit: Alexander Kazakov / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders from across Asia Monday at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin. Xi took thinly veiled jabs at the U.S. and President Donald Trump's disruptive economic policies as he promoted a vision of an "orderly multipolar world" with China as one of its leaders. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing this morning to join Xi and Putin.

Who said what

Xi proposed an SCO development bank and offered other benefits for members of the regional organization, founded with Russia in 2001 as a Eurasian security bloc, but he "did not set out any concrete measures," Reuters said. Still, he "used the summit as an opportunity to mend ties with New Delhi," and "Putin and Modi were shown holding hands as they walked jovially" toward Xi in an "image designed to convey a mood of solidarity" against the West.

For now, the three leaders are mostly "united in a sense of aggrievement with the U.S. rather than a sense of common purpose," Carla Freeman of Johns Hopkins University told The Washington Post. "These are big countries with their own agendas."

But Trump's "steep tariffs on India and the tone coming from the White House have pushed New Delhi closer to China and Russia," The Associated Press said. Trump's "gentle treatment of Vladimir Putin has done nothing to pull Russia away from China," Michael Fullilove at Australia's Lowy Institute told The Wall Street Journal. "His rough treatment of Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is pushing India closer to Russia and warming up its relations with China."

What next?

Putin, Kim and other leaders are expected to sit alongside Xi Wednesday at a massive military parade to mark Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. But Modi, in an "act of careful diplomatic balancing," visited Japan before arriving in Tianjin and "will skip the parade and its display of Chinese-made weapons," the Post said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.