By Quinn Marschik
For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Chinese President Xi Jinping has left China to visit Kazakhstan and then Uzbekistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
This is in contrast to previous reports of Xi’s potential travel to Saudi Arabia or speculation that Xi’s first foreign travel would be to Indonesia for the G20 summit. Besides China, the SCO includes Russia and India as full members and Iran as an observer seeking full membership – along with multiple Central and South Asian members.
Xi’s choice to visit Uzbekistan and participate in the SCO summit in person indicates Beijing is primarily focused on bolstering stability at home instead of power projection in East and Southeast Asia.
However, the Biden administration’s democracies versus autocracies rhetoric could help transform the SCO from a primarily counterterrorism and internal stability organization into a more cohesive international grouping capable of challenging US interests abroad.
Xi’s first foreign visit in nearly three years to participate in the SCO summit demonstrates Beijing’s focus on internal security rather than power projection. Before the SCO’s founding declaration was issued, the original members created the Shanghai Convention on Combatting Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism.
This piece was originally published in Asia Times on September 17, 2022. Read more HERE.